


Desperation

by desiallen16, Vivvy



Category: Nonfanfiction, Original Work, generalfiction
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Complete, M/M, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 05:33:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15308571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/desiallen16/pseuds/desiallen16, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vivvy/pseuds/Vivvy
Summary: In the small town of Desperation in Kentucky, not much happens. It’s an isolated town separated from the rest of society by wilderness. Here, everyone knows everyone and not much happens. The town’s biggest drug lord, Melissa, over doses one night and leaves her young teen son alone. Detective Jonathan Beckett adopts him and his life turns around, just as a new case opens. Bailey, the son of Melissa, soon finds that he is in the center of all the drama.





	1. Chapter One

I was making ramen, the only food we could afford when he rammed into me in the kitchen. Mom's new boyfriend. Alex. Alex was a taller well built guy, he had broad shoulders and tan skin. His arms were bulky and his body was husky, he looked like a normal human being. That didn't fit well with the town. I'd never heard of his before, either. He must be new here. Welcome to Desperation. A small town rejected from the rest of the world. It's one of those little towns you'd read about, with only about six or seven hundred people in it. Sounds like a lot, I know. But trust me, I lived there my whole life. That is not a lot of people.  
   That is about the number of teenagers you'd have in a high school in a larger state- Kentucky never had that many high school students to begin with. Alongside my point. Seven hundred people sounds like a lot to an outsider looking in, but when you've lived in it long enough you know. You get to know everyone who lives there almost all on a personal level. We were secluded by trees, separating us from society. No one ever really left town either. We had all we could ever want here in town. We had one big school that had three buildings in it, one for primary, one for junior high, and one for high school students. There was a total of Maybe seventy or eighty kids in this school.  
   Of course I wouldn't know how it felt inside that school. I've never actually been to school. My mother had me homeschooled where I taught myself everything I know now. Everyone knew who I was, and I knew everyone else, but we didn't know each other personally. That's because of the extreme isolation I had suffered. So no one really knew Alex, and that told me one thing, he was new here. He didn't look like the other men mom brought home. Usually they all looked around the same. Their skin was always drained of color, their eyes the same way. Their hair was always dead and stringy, and they were either twigs with bellies just as scrawny as the rest of them or beer bellies that made them look eight months pregnant.  
   They always looked that way because they were all always strung out on drugs. They none loved my mother, they only used her. See, she was like the drug lord. She had the best of the best, and would share it with her lovers. My mom and I use to look alike, she was a healthy looking woman with curly brown hair and fair skin, with forest green eyes. I had dark brown curly hair, fair skin, and sky blue eyes. After she started drugging herself out, she grew thin and sickly looking. She matched the traits of the men she brought home. She looked like a whore prostitute who had nothing left in life.  
  I remember before mom got into drugs, she would tell me stories of my biological father. She told me he died before I was born. We were best friends. She would tell me she loved me and promise to keep me safe. That all stopped when I was seven years old. She brought home the first man she had met sense my dad's death. I remember him very vividly. He was way older than her. He had the same color scheme almost, with drained skin and freckles, with stringy brown hair and dead, grass green eyes. They were always so glassy. His name was Angus.  
   He was the one who started her on the drugs. I was there when he did it. He gave her a bong and let her smoke. Weed isn't that bad in itself, it's one of the most chilled drugs I know of. If he had just kept it at that, then maybe things would be different. But no. He strung her out on so many different drugs. That relationship lasted a year. He treated us both like shit. He would scream at her and call her names, sometimes he'd hit her. When I got brought into the fights, he was blaming me for ruining the relationship, saying I shouldn't have been born. Mom finally made him leave, and she got so much worse. There wasn't a time when she wasn't high on something.  
   I can remember standing at her bedroom door and screaming and crying for her to come out. She would lock herself in her room for hours to days. I would stand and beg, screaming at her to come out, until my voice went hoarse and it hurt to make sound. "Mommy come out! Please!" I'd beg. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" For some reason, I believed everything Angus told me. I thought this was my fault. I was only eight, so of course I was impressionable and I believed what he said.  
   It wasn't but three months later and she got another guy. Same thing, he'd be kind just long enough to get in her pants and get her drugs, then he'd start screaming, and hitting, And fighting. Then she'd kick them out or they would leave. Most of them eventually took little interests in me. They would start talking to me and flirting, giving me dirty looks and staring at me whenever I was in the room. Sometimes they'd try and hold my hand or rub my shoulders. Whenever mom caught them doing that, she'd scream at me, saying I was stealing her men.  
   I eventually got so used to this that I would tune out when they did it. I couldn't do anything to escape. No one cared. So, I stopped caring, too. But someone finally broke me. He broke my walls that I'd built up. He shattered them. His name was Jeb. He was just like the others for the most part. By the time he came around I was twelve years old. Three years ago. He would hide his flirting with me and touching my hands and arms from my mother so well that she almost didn't notice at all. He pretended to love her a lot longer. That relationship lasted almost two whole years because he was so good at lying.  
   He went much further than her other boyfriends had with me. He'd run his hands up my thighs and try to sit as close to me as possible at all times, he always had his eye on me. See, we lived in a tiny trailer next to the junkyard on the far end of town. This trailer only had one bedroom, and that was mom's, so I had to sleep on the couch. I didn't have a room of my own to escape to, away from Jeb. I tried to ignore him like I did the others, but I couldn't. It was something about him. He waited for my mom to go to sleep one night, and then he came to the living room with me. He pinned me down on the couch and started kissing my neck and shoulders.  
   "Stay quiet, boy. Or I'll kill her." He warned me. I still loved my mother. Or at least I thought I did. She loved me. No matter what she said I knew she loved me, right? I knew she cared. She promised she'd take care of me. She was just sick. I held still and he slid his hands under my shirt, rubbing my scrawny body. I never did eat much, I felt guilty for it. She needed the food more. She was just so skinny.. I started to cry. Tears burnt my cheeks. He snarled and kissed me, biting my lip hard. "Be a big boy, stop crying." That's when my mom walked in. She'd woken up for some reason, and noticed he wasn't in bed with her anymore.  
   "What the hell, Jeb?" She screamed at the top of her lungs. I'd never heard her so angry. I'd never heard her scream like that. "Get away from him!" Did she really come to save me? I laid there helplessly, closing my eyes tightly and the man finally got off and stood next to the couch, screaming back at her. "What the hell are you doing up?" His tone matched hers. I'd never seen anyone as angry as they were. I didn't feel safe, I was right in between them. He was so close to me. He was too close. I felt myself shaking uncontrollably, I couldn't stop it. It was like a seizure.  
   "You were going to fucking have sex, with Bailey?" I heard her voice strain as she lifted a chair and threw it at him. "My son! My own flesh and blood, You bastard! He's twelve years old!" The old wooden chair flew at him and he turned, hunching over so it was his back that got the force of the blow instead of his front. The chair broke and parts of it landed on me. I wanted to run. I wanted to get up and run away. But I was paralyzed in fear. "You wouldn't give me what I want, woman! And he's just like you. Just like you!" He screamed. "I couldn't hold myself back. It's your damn fault!"  
   She stormed at him. I heard her footsteps come closer. Then I heard the loud swack of her hand hitting his face. This knocked him over. He stumbled sideways, holding his face, and he gave me and her a glare straight from hell. "You think you can just fucking hit me?" He snarled and rushed her, body slamming her into the wall behind her. By now I'd sat up on the couch. I was watching in horror. I couldn't control what I was doing. It's like my body wasn't my own. I got up and ran towards the door. Like I was gonna try and run away. But the door flew open and one of the neighbors, Ralph, entered.  
   He must have heard the screaming and come to see what was wrong. He told me to go wait outside and not go anywhere. I just stormed past him and ran. I ran as far and as fast as I could. I ran into the junkyard next to our house and hid. I could hear the police sirens and an ambulance nearby, assuming they went to my house. There was no way I was going back there. I was too scared. I stayed in that junkyard for days before they finally found me. My mother somehow managed to manipulate them into letting her keep me, proving h raked as a worthy mother. She bared a broken jaw, broken eye socket, and a busted lip.  
   That was the end of that relationship. They'd taken Jeb away to jail. Mom never testified against him. But I heard about that night for the next year or so. She yelled at me for letting him cheat on her with me. She told me I was lucky she didn't shoot me. I wanted to tell her I didn't want what he was doing, that he threatened to kill her, but I was too scared. I was scared that she'd not believe me, or she'd be more stressed. Jeb was the reason I stopped staying in the house. I slept out in an old Cadillac in the junkyard. I only went in the house to get food or drink. I would try and fix the broken cars or sit and study schoolwork nonstop to keep myself busy.  
   That all led up to this point, where I was cooking ramen, and Alex rammed into me. It was a shock, and I collapsed to the floor in shock. "S..sorry.." I stammered, pulling myself up. He panicked a little. "Shit, I'm sorry Bailey, I didn't mean to, see you okay?" He looked over me. It wasn't the look the others had given. It was like real concern. I nodded a little as my mother came up behind me and slammed the back of my head. "Apologize for getting in his way, you clumsy little whore." She snapper at me. "Sorry.." I mumbled. That was my name to her now. Whore.  
   Alex gave her an angry look and shook his head. "It's not his fault, Mellisa. I wasn't looking where I was going." I heard the microwave beep as my ramen got done and I hastily grabbed it and went out to the junkyard to eat. By now, I'd changed my style. I didn't want to look like her anymore. After Jeb saying what he said that night, I changed every little thing about me. I went to the market and stole enough hair dye and bleach and dyed my dark brown hair to a mix of pastel pink and blue. I still wore the old hand me downs that mom lended me, which were nothing but some old torn jeans and white t-shirts, but I felt a little better knowing my hair was different.  
   It was already seven in the afternoon, so after I finished eating the little bit that I could eat I set the half full bowl out. There was a stray dog that lived here in the junkyard with me. She was an American pit bull terrier, and she had to have been at least fifteen years old. She was a warrior, so that's what I named her. When she didn't come when I called for her, I got worried and went to look for her. I found her laying lifelessly in the Cadillac. She had died of her age, or some illness that I didn't know about. She'd been my best friend for as long as I'd lived in the junkyard. The night I moved out here she slept with me and protected me, and she stayed with me this whole time.  
   So when I found her laying there, curled up in the backseats where we usually cuddled to sleep, I broke. I started bawling. I pulled her out and held her in my arms rocking back and forth, pleading for her to wake up. I couldn't help it. I couldn't hold it back. I stayed that way, holding her, until the sun went down and the stars came out. I carried her to an open space in the junkyard next to where I had built fires in the winter when it was cold, and dug her a grave. I didn't sleep in the Cadillac that night. I slept next to her grave. I didn't fall asleep until maybe five or six in the morning when the crying finally took its toll and I was too exhausted to stay up.  
   I woke up not two or three hours later to sirens. I wandered aimlessly towards the sound, finally snapping back to reality when I saw the sirens at my house. I ran inside, to the dismay of the detective on duty outside, and ran to my mom's room. Her body laid there sprawled out on the bed, with the needle still practically in her arm. She was dead. "Mom.." I said. I was breathless. Detective Johnathan Beckett came in behind me. "You must be Bailey.." he said softly. I jerked around and looked at him. I wanted to scream at him to leave me alone. I wanted time to grieve. I lost my best friend and my mom, my only real family member, almost in the same day.  
   But instead of screaming, I simply stared at him in shock. The shaking was worse than usual. See, after the Jeb thing happened, I never really stopped shaking. Sometimes it was just a tremble and sometimes it was like a seizure. I think that's because nerve damage. He broke something in my head, all of the stress from everything and him on top of it broke something, and now I couldn't never stop shaking. I tried hiding it by holding my own hands. "Come outside." He said. His voice was empty. Emotionless. But it was condescendingly soft, like he was trying to calm me.  
   I looked up at him. His eyes were sunken back in his head and there was dark rings underneath them. They were bloodshot and tired, as if he hadn't slept in days. He looked healthy other than that. I wanted to tell him to just leave me alone. To let me stay here. To let me stay with my mother. I lot Warrior. I lost mom. All in the same day, almost. I couldn't breathe. The shaking was worse. I felt myself digging at my wrist. That's a thing I did when I was scared, nervous, just mildly out of a neutral state of mind at all. I would either chew at, scratch, or dig at my palms and wrists. Or I'd chew at my nails or at the skin around them. It was just my hands and arms in general.  
   With the short sleeved t shirt, my scars were visible on my arms. The ones I'd gained from my mom's boyfriends, and the ones I put on myself with my nervous habits. Beckett gestured for me to follow him out and I did. I didn't like being in that god for saken house. I couldn't tell if I was sad about her passing, and I felt terrible over it. She was my mom. I should be crying. I should be extremely upset. But I didn't even feel the least bit of sadness for her. It was more like an empty feeling. I knew I should've felt something. But something in me just.. didn't care. It was a little bit like a weight had been lifted.  
   Once we were outside I saw every neighbor gathered around the house curiously, all of them chattering and yelling about it. I got more nervous around them. He noticed, and led me to is car. "Get in, Bailey. So we can talk." I did as told. I climbed into the front passenger side seat. "Son, do you know what happened?" He asked. I didn't give a response. I was too lost in my own thoughts. Now that I was thinking about it, I missed Warrior more than my own mother. I felt so guilty. I missed the biological father more than I missed her. She loved Me. I loved her.. or did I? I hated being called a whore, I hated getting reminded of it everyday. I hated getting the blame. But now that would never happen again. I knew that.  
   "Do you know who called us to tell us you were still there?" He asked. I looked at him. It was Alex. But if I told him, Alex would get caught doing drugs. And he would be arrested. Alex was nice to me. I have no response. I wouldn't tell on him. "Why were you not asleep in the house?" I stiffened. My body stopped shaking for that split second of stiffness, like I was aboard. I didn't have no answer again. Instead I dug more furiously. I felt the warm, sickening blood ooze out of my new wounds. He gave me an odd look and gently pushed my hands apart. "I'm going to take you to the hospital, and then I'm going to take you to the orphanage until we can find some distant relatives you can live with." He promised.  
   I looked at him. There was no way they would find any distant relatives. My dad was unknown, and all of my mom's family members had died of old age or disease, and the ones young enough to be alive or surviving were all in prison. I didn't warn him of that though. I didn't know what I was supposed to say. Oh, hey, you can't find any distant relatives. They're either dead or in prison for something. If they couldn't find anyone, I was fifteen. There's no way I would be adopted. No one wants teenagers. They want to start fresh with new norms or toddlers who are impressionable.  
   So I would have to stay at the orphanage for until I was eighteen. Three years away. God, I was that close to being an adult and I was no where near ready. I spent my whole life isolated from society, I had no idea how to talk to people. He started driving to the old, run down hospital. I guess everything here was run down. The town was as old as the civil war. Not a single thing had changed sense then besides the people. The hospital itself was y'all and built with white cinderblocks that had turned colors with age. It looked a little bit like the Williamson memorial hospital. It was surrounded by trees and sanctioned off from the rest of the town.  
   He took me inside and they did so many different tests to make sure I was healthy. I had severe nerve damage generally due to mental abuse, but the damage in my arms was from my digging. They said I had dug too deep into the tendons in my wrist and it was a miracle I hadn't lost the use of my wrists or fingers. My growth was stunt d slightly from the abuse as well, and I was malnourished. They  sent me to the ward to get a psychological test and I didn't hear what they came up with, they talked to Beckett about that. He kept glancing at my sympathetically. I hated it.  
   I hated the feeling like they were sorry for Me. I didn't deserve pity. I didn't want it. It made me feel more weak, more helpless. I watched him talk to the doctors and they shook their heads slightly. I had to spend the night there. The next day he came to get me, and he drove me to the orphanage right outside of town. Because the town was so small, there was no use to have its own orphanage. No one had kids they didn't want, and when they did, they had family or friends near who would take them. But there was an orphanage not ten miles out of town. So he took me there.  
  The orphanage looked well built and huge. Like a mansion. Once inside, there weren't too many kids there. They varied in ages. There was a few my age, which I didn't expect. I had a bad feeling about the place, though. Like if I stayed here I'd get hurt. I felt eyes on me. All around me. I started feeling hands. I felt myself start shaking worse again, and nervously picked at the medical bandages on my arms. I couldn't get to the skin yet because of the bandages, they'd wrapped them in a way I couldn't easily dig through.  
   They wanted to assign me a therapist but I don't have insurance, my mother never signed me up for it. I'd never been to a hospital before unless I had a broken arm. Even then, it'd take days before I was taken. Becker must have noticed I was getting uneasy as he placed a hand on my shoulder. It jerked me back to reality. "Listen, Bailey. You'll be outta here in no time. A month, maybe a month and a half. That's all. We just need a little time." He promised. I wanted to yell at him. I wanted to tell him no. No I won't. I don't have any family left. I don't have any real family. My dad is dead and no one knows who he was, the only person who knew is dead. You'll never find any family. Unless it's one of my moms ex boyfriends.  
   Instead of protesting I nodded and held it in. Don't cry, big a big boy and don't cry. Jeb's words played in my head from that night. He signed me into the place, and left. instead of getting a room to myself or anything, the man behind the counter simply said, "make yourself at home. I'm Lorance." That was it. I could tell this would be hell. This whole thing was going to be hell. I went to the emptiest bedroom that had nothing in it and just kind of laid there. This room only had a single empty drawer, and a bed. After about twenty minutes of doing nothing but laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling, thinking of everything, having a breakdown.. a girl walked in. She was my age. "You should run." She said. "Run away while you still can, before anyone gets attached to you." I looked at her.  
  "What?" I asked. "You heard me. You're smart. Go." She looked angry. Where the hell was I supposed to go, though? What did she expect? I just kept looking at her. "God, you're clueless. He's going to hurt you." She snarled. "He hurts all of us. You can still run." "I can't." I picked at the bandages. She glanced at them, raising a brow. "Why not, boy?" She asked. "I have no where to go." I grunted angrily. It's not like I could do anything. I have literally no idea how to get back to town from here. No idea where to go. "You should run away." She looked me over and her anger softened. "Wait.." She said. "Where'd you come from?" I didn't explain. She must've taken something from the ragged clothes.  
  I simply looked at her and then down to my bandages. Hesitantly, she sat on the edge of the bed. She looked ill. She looked fragile, just as broken as I was. "What's your name?" She asked. You already know. Everyone does. I wanted to hiss at her. But I remembered I wasn't in Desperation. No one here knew who I was. "Bailey." I said quietly. She nodded. "I'm Daniela. Why are you here?" She asked. Her tone was softer, much different than the previous angry and defensive one. I shrugged a bit. I didn't want to talk about my son story. So, I made it short. I stuttered a bit due to my anxiety.  
   "My mom died yesterday. I don't have a dad, or any other family. So I'm here." She looked at the floor, but didn't say the regular 'I'm sorry for your loss.' That you would expect. I must have said it in a way that let her know how I really felt. "Where did you come from?" "Desperation." I kept my replies short. I didn't want to talk about it. If I was stuck here I wanted to start new. She could tell. "So. I guess you're stuck here." She shrugged. "Just.. I'm sorry you got sent here of all places. It ain't a good place." She got up. "You'll figures it out soon enough." And with that she left. I was curious as to what she meant.  
   I didn't look any further into it. I just laid there all night staring at the ceiling. It was cold, but I didn't complain. I just laid there. It was a long night, no sleep. I sat up after a while finally and decided to wander around. The place was dark, but the bedrooms all had light on. What time was it? I didn't have a phone. I didn't have anything. I couldn't tell. I went to one of the rooms where I'm assuming everyone can just hang out, and one of the other kids was there. "Hi Bailey." He said. He was a few years younger than I was, probably twelve. "Dani told us about you."  
   I raised a brow and sat down. This kid sat in the floor against the wall, cradling one of the infants. "I'm Edriel." He smiled, looking down at the baby. "This is Toby. He's new here, too." 'New' is an understatement. This baby looked like he was fresh out of the womb, maybe a few days old. No infant like that would be here. If you give birth at a hospital, don't they do some kind of adoption thing there? Instant adoption.. I don't know what it's called. You sign up to adopt and the mother chooses who it goes to.  
   I don't know, I just knew something was off. "How old is he?" I asked quietly. "He's a week old. He was born October seventh." I nodded. "Why's He here?" "He's not an orphan. Dani had him." He stomach dropped. "Who's his dad?" "Lorance." "What?" "Lorance is a mean man." He moves the hair that was previously covering his right eye, revealing a deep cut. "He's mean to us." I looked at him. "He did that to you?" I asked. I wanted to call Beckett. I wanted Beckett here now. "Why don't you call the police?" "He cut the phone lines. We can't get in or out of here, not by a phone call."  
    I looked at him. "Well.. someone's gonna come get me in a couple weeks, he promised, he's a cop. So I can get him to save you." The boy's eyes lit up. "All of us?" He asked. I nodded. "Yeah.. all of you." I smiled softly. It was a fake smile, forced, but he fell for it. I felt like I had to help them. I had to get them out. I didn't know how. I could tell Beckett, and get him to open a case on Lorance. They could go to a different orphanage. "How many of you are there?" I asked. Edriel counted aloud. "Dani, Teddy, Serenity, Snow, Rin, and Chip." He said quietly. "Not that many kids here, huh?" He shook his head. "No. No one really comes here either, so none of us get adopted. But that's okay. We're like a family, Dani is the mom who protects us from Lorance, the mean dad."  
   I stiffened. The mom who protects. He noticed me finally, noticing my shaking. "Hey, why do you shake like that?" I tried to hide it. "Uhh..." I hesitated. "Well." I figured sense he told me something about him, I'd tell him something about Me. "My mom didn't protect me like Dani protects you guys. So I got hurt, and that messed my head up a bit. So I shake." He looked sad. "You got hurt real bad, huh?" "Nah. You've went through more. You're a little.." warrior. "Warrior." He shook his head. "No. You're valid, no amount of abuse is okay." Damn, this twelve year old is more informed on this than I thought. I hadn't dealt with twelve year olds before, so I didn't really know what to expect. When I was twelve I was nothing like him.  
   I don't think I was like anyone. I was isolated so I didn't learn to function all the way, it happened slower. "You're pretty smart, huh?" I asked. He shook his head. "It's common sense." He explained. "Even if I got hurt more that don't mean I got hurt worse. Not even saying I got hurt more." He shrugged. "Well." I started again. "What time is it? What time does everyone else wake up?" "Usually early. It's six." Lorance woke up and he came to us. "Why are you two up so early?" He grumbled. "We just woke up." Edriel lied. "Oh." Lorance left with that. Then the others started waking up and joining us. I usually wouldn't have been okay with this many people, but I knew they was all hurt too. They probably were just as uncomfortable with me as I was of them.  
   Daniela sat next to me and Edriel. "How early was you up?" She asked Ed. "Sense four." He responded. "I slept all day yesterday." She looked at me. She didn't ask, she saw from the circles under my eyes that I didn't sleep at all. "So. Who wants breakfast? We can go make some if we have enough groceries." The younger children, which was a girl who looked about two and a boy who looked.. four or five, leaped up happily and ran off. "Well come on, guys, we gotta make food for them now." She took Toby from Ed and followed the little ones. I got up and went after her. We were the oldest there. The others all looked between ten and thirteen.  
   "Have you made yourself at home yet, Bailey?" One of the kids asked. He looked twelve. He had dark hair and blue eyes, but they were mostly hidden by his bangs. He looked so edgy. "I'm Serenity, by the way." I smiled a little and nodded. "I guess so. Nice to meet you." I shrugged. I kind of liked them. They were accepting. They were all kids. Daniela looked sleepily through the cabinet and made a face. "We don't have anything to make. Not even cereal. What does that bastard want us to do.. starve..?" She mumbled. The kids looked disappointed. "Well.. tomorrow I'll ask him to go to the store."  
  This is how it went for a couple days. Only me and Ed knew of my plan. On my second week there, Lorance finally showed me in particular his mean side. It was just the beginning of what was going to be a very hard day. Me and Dani were talking about what we planned to do with our lives if we ever got them. "I don't know. Maybe a doctor or something. I'm good at caring for people." She started. "Or I'd run an orphanage, take better care of the kids there than Lorance does." I nodded. "What about you?" She asked. "I'd want to help people." I answered without hesitation. "I don't know how. But I feel useless if I'm not." I shrugged. "I don't know." Lorance come up behind me. He grabbed me by my hair, and lifted me up by it.  
   Dani jumped to her feet. "Put him down!" She snarled. "No." Lorance was pissed. His voice tone matched Jeb's on the night he was arrested. "You have someone here to take you in. Says he's family," Lorance threw me at the ground. I was confused. Dani was the same. By now, the others here new my story. She looked at him. "He has no family." She spat. "Eon hurt him." I stumbled to my feet and he slapped me, sending me into the wall. "He's the son of my bastard brother!" Lorance scowled. "If I had known that I'd have killed him when he came here." Who..? He grabbed my wrist tight and led me to the exit doors and Dani and the others followed us. Ed looked just as confused.  
   When I saw who was here to get me, my stomach dropped. His face was burned into my memory. His voice. His touch. Jeb stood in the doorway. "Yeah, that's him. That's my son."  My shaking was so bad. My legs turned to jello and I dropped to the floor. This bastard was trying to take me. I felt myself jolt and jerk like I was having a seizure. Maybe I was. I couldn't think straight. I couldn't hear. I couldn't breathe. All I could think was WHORE. I heard my mom screaming at me. I saw him throw her. I heard his screaming. I heard his words.  
   What broke me from the trance was Dani's voice calmingly saying my name. "Wake up, Bailey." She said. When I opened my eyes, I was still on the floor. "He's gone. I explained it to Lorance and he took him outside. I guess he didn't like him too much either.." I instantly put my hands to my mouth and started chewing. Rocking myself back and forth. I had finally torn through the bandages. She pushed my hands away from my mouth. "Stop.." she pleaded. "It's okay now. He can't get you." I wrapped my arms around her tightly. "Promise?" I asked. She nodded. "I promise."  
   When the month was over, Beckett came to the place to get me. I don't know where he expected to take me. But I instantly took him to the bedroom and told him everything Lorance had done. Easily, that opened a case. Beckett took all the kids and moved them to a new orphanage run by a woman he knew personally. They thanked me and we said our goodbyes, and I admit, I cried. They were the first real family I had. Before she left though, Dani took me aside. "Bailey.. thank you so much." I shook my head. "No, it's okay. No need to thank me.." I mumbled. She looked at me, noticing I was converting back to my shy ways.  
   "Don't just forget what you got here. Be happy.. don't just go back to that little ball of anxiety that you were when you first came to the orphanage." She lectured. I was taken aback a little. "Here, let's make a deal." She held out her hand. "Live your best life and I'll live mine. Got it? You break the deal I'll die. I break the deal you die." It was a childish punishment, but I took her hand hesitantly. "Deal." I said, cracking a genuine smile. We parted our ways and she joined the others with the new woman, named Gira. I could tell she was nice. Beckett smiled and thanked me for speaking out about what was going on and saving them.  
Beckett took me out to the car and we drove off, heading back to town. "Who did you find?" I asked. I was taking the deal seriously. I was trying to be talkative and happy. "Well.. no one," He said quietly. "We didn't find any living members that were eligible to become your guardian." I knew it. "Then.. where are you taking me?" I asked. "I made a promise. I told you I would get you out in a month." He shrugged. "I mean, I don't really have family either. My wife and son died couple years back. So I figured we could just kind of.. take care of each other." He said.  
"So you're adopting me?" I asked. He struggled to answer for a bit. "I am." He said finally. "Unless you want to go back." "No, no. I'm fine." I argued. "Thank you.." I said silently. "For what?" He asked. "Giving me a chance.." I smiled at him. His eyes met mine and he smiled, too. They were a dark brown, the same color as his hair. I was picking again. "Do you know anything about Jeb?" I asked. "Jeb? Jeb who?" He asked. "The one who was arrested a couple years ago due to domestic violence, with my mom." "Ohh.. he got out a couple days ago. He was only charged for a few years. It's his time out I guess."  
Beckett shrugged. I supposed I'd call him John now, instead of his last name. It wouldnt be normal if I continued calling him his formal name. He wasn't gonna call me Anderson all the time. I guess now my name was Bailey Anderson Beckett, though. He took me to a store and let me buy a few outfits other than the rags I'd been wearing for a whole month now. I got mostly light colors, hoodies. He pointed that out and called me a pastel goth. I laughed and accepted it.  
"So. You ever been to school before?" He asked, as he searched through the jewelry. "No." "Have you ever really been in public?" "No. Not until mom died. I always stayed in the junkyard." "Why?" "She didn't want me out. I had too many bruises. She was scared I was gonna get her and her boyfriends caught." I answered. Now I honestly couldn't care less. Everyone in this town already knew about me. I mean, nothing ever happens in this town. Nothing. So when something big happens, like when Jeb hurt me, when mom died, everyone knows about it. No one in the town liked me. They thought I was gonna be like my mom. So they avoided me. And I avoided them.  
This honestly didn't bother me. I liked the solitude. It felt safe. I don't like letting people really get to know me anyway. The kids at the orphanage and John are the only exceptions. I mean. Everyone here knew me. They just didn't know me personally. I don't know, it's hard to explain. "So.. how did you learn?" John asked. "I taught myself everything. I stole schoolbooks from some of the cars in the junkyard." "Did you do anything else there?" "I fixed Cars. There's one that I've been working on sense Jeb-" "can I ask you something?" He asked me, looking at me.  
"Sure." I responded. "What did they do to you?" He asked. "What did Jeb do?" I sighed. "Well.." I struggled. I was so uncomfortable. I didn't want to answer. "I'll tell you, if you tell me something in return." I ordered. "Something that hurts you a lot. So it's fair." He furrowed his brows. "Fine." I sighed, struggling to open up. "Well. He tried to rape me. My mom saw, and that started the fight they had that sent her to the hospital." He dropped whatever it was he had in his hand in shock. I felt ashamed. "I'm a whore. I know. Please don't get rid of m-" he cut me off.  
"Don't you ever let me hear you say that bullshit again, Bailey!" He raised his voice. "You're not a whore. Don't you dare think it!" I jumped at him raising his voice, and cussing. I hadn't heard him cuss. Like, ever. Before I could protest he had his arms wrapped around me. I shivered a little, wrapping my arms around him. "I'm sorry.." I stammered out. "Don't be sorry when you've done nothing wrong." He seemed genuinely hurt. Why did he care so much? I was confused. "Your turn." I quickly changed the subject off of me. Off of what happened.  
He let me go after a moment with a heavy sigh. "I lost my wife and son in a car crash around the same time Jeb was arrested. I say crash, instead of accident, because it was no accident. It was my fault. It's my fault they're dead." I looked at him. "Why do you say that?" I asked. "That's.. another question. You have to tell me something else about you, before I'll answer it." I shook my head. There was nothing else to tell him. Nothing else I knew. He shook his head. "Then you're not gonna find out." He grabbed the clothes and went to pay for them. Everyone knew about the accident. No one knew what he just told me. I pondered on what he said. Trying to find what he was saying.  
He caused the crash. No. He couldn't have. He's hurt by their deaths. He blames himself. It's not really his fault. I didn't push him any further. "Alright, let's try something not so personal." I started. "Why did you become a detective?" I asked. "Hmm.." he thought. "I don't know. Me and my buddy Michael both dreamed about it. We use to play pretend detective when we was younger, and we both vowed to become real detectives one day. So here we are." He shrugged. "You live in a mansion.." I started. "Your parents left you millions of dollars and a mansion, and you chose to be a detective."  
"Right." He smiled. "I don't really use the money they left me. I don't gorge myself on it. I use the money I earn. Yeah, when I really want something or need a little help I'll check into it, but I've only used a couple thousand dollars out of that safe on myself." "Why?" I asked. If I had a million dollars, I'd never work a day in my life. "It's not about the fact that I have it. I'm happy I have it, that way if something big happens I can spend it." That's when I caught his wording. He said he only used a couple thousand on himself. "You used most of it on your family." I pointed out. "Correct. And I'll use it on you, too. You're family now."  
I smiled a little. "No. You won't. It'll be fair for both of us and I'll earn what I take." I promised. He shook his head. "You remind me of him." He meant his son. I smiled a little, honored by that. "Thanks.." I said softly. He drove into the town. "Was you all alone in that junkyard all the time?" He asked. I shook my head. "No." "Oh? Who was out there with you?" He asked. "Warrior. I had a dog. She stayed with me out there from the time I moved out there to the time I left. She.. passed, the night before mom overdosed. I buried her. She was fifteen, I think." I explained. "So She was just too old." He looked heart broken. "What Bree's was she?" He asked. "American pit bull terrier. She was beautiful. Blue coat.." I mumbled. "She sounds gorgeous." He said softly.  
He took me to his mansion, and led me to a room carrying my bags. "This will be your room. It's got a tv, giant bed, closet, bathroom.." he explained. "All to yourself." "Wait.. what? I get to keep it?" I asked. He nodded. "You earned it. You saved a whole orphanage full of people." I laughed and threw myself on the bed. "Thank you!" I squealed. He smiled and watched, looking out the window. "Time sure flies. It's late." I nodded, following his gaze. The window was huge. The bedroom itself was on the second floor of the building, and there was a set of three huge ceiling to floor windows that overlooked the woods behind the mansion. The mansion was on the edge of the town, my room faced the woods surrounding us. The town.  
He went off to another room and came back with a couple pill bottles. "Okay, So, they got your prescriptions in for your trauma, I just got to go pick them up the other day. These will help with sleep, and these are Prozac. They help you feel better, anti-depressants." He explained. I took them and took one of each. "Thank you.." I said again. He nodded kindly and pointed to the closet. "When you're ready to sleep you can change into sleep clothes, there's already big white shirts and joggers in there."  
He left the room and I laid there, already feeling the affects of the drugs. I was so tired. I didn't feel a single worry. I smiled. I changed into one of the clean white t shirts and my boxers and nothing else. I slipped into bed, and was out like a light. I slept hard, but I didn't even dream. All I could remember when I woke up was darkness. I woke up what seemed like years later, drool trailing across my cheek and my pink and blue curls boofed up messily around my head like a cloud. I don't know when I woke up. How long I had been asleep. I just saw the sun beaming through the window, and knew it was already midday. It had to have been.  
I popped a couple more pills, feeling guilty at first, like I was turning into my mother, but I knew I wasn't her. I needed these. I stretched, throwing on a pair of the grey joggers and leaving the room. It was hard to walk at first. I slept so hard. I wandered down the stairs to where John was. "There you are. I was starting to think you was never gonna wake up." He laughed. "I'm sorry.." I said. I knew my speech was slurred. I couldn't help it. I was so tired. He smiled. "Well, I'm glad you slept well. I have a surprise for you. I was gonna wake you up with it but you looked so tired."  
"What?" I asked, stretching again. "Come with me." He took off for the living room. I followed him. I heard a little yap, and then saw the best thing I'd ever seen. It was a tiny puppy. It was pure black, not a speck of white on it, and it's eyes were an ocean blue. It yapped when it saw us and ran to us, slipping several times on the hardwood floor. I hit the floor, lifting it up. She wriggled in my arms and whined, struggling to lick my face. She was the same breed as Warrior was. "I'm sorry she ain't the same color as your girl was. I saw her at a yard sale this morning and I had to get her, she's the same breed. She wasn't even really for sale, but I talked them into it." He laughed.  
I looked up at him. I felt the tears swell in my eyes. "She's mine..?" I asked. "Of course she is. She was already named though. She responds to Amara." I kissed her little dog head. Her ears weren't cut, they were still floppy. They were still puppy ears. I couldn't stop smiling and laughing. "And I get to keep her..?" I asked. He smiled and nodded again. "Of course." He smiled. I sat her down and ran to him, wrapping my arms around him tightly. "Thank you so much, John.." I buried my face in his shoulder.  
He rubbed my back. "Of course, Bailey.." I felt Amara's tiny paws tapping the backs of my legs and heard her whine. She was asking for attention. It was like she was telling us we were forgetting her. I laughed and lifted her up into my arms and kissed her head again. She yipped and wagged her little tail happily. She wasn't Warrior, no, but she was now my baby. I had to take care of her. She was almost out of the new puppy stage, she was already growing into her thick body build that all of her kind had, she looked about a month or so old. I couldn't believe it, I couldn't stop smiling. John was the best.  
  John let me play with Amara all day. I didn't have to do anything else. I just played with her and cuddled her when she wanted to sleep. I know, I may sound obsessive, but look at it from my perspective. Can you blame me? I didn't know what it was, if it was the Prozac, the new family, or the new puppy, but I felt amazing. I was truly happy. He stopped me right before I went to my bedroom to sleep. "I have to warn you of something, tomorrow we're gonna take you to the high school at about eight and you're gonna take a placement test."  
   "What?" I asked. "You need to start school. Proper schooling, so you need to take a placement exam to see where you are in your education. They said you're fifteen so you should be placed in the eighth grade or freshman year of high school. They just need to find that out and then next week you'll get your schedule and start class with the rest of the kids." He explained. I didn't really like the idea.  I didn't want to be around other kids. But then I remembered what Daniela told me before we parted ways, and smiled just a little. "Okay. I'll be ready." I told him, and went to the bedroom. I'd brought Amara with me, so when I climbed in the bed she curled up in my shirt on my stomach. She liked the warmth.  
    Again, I took the medicine and fell asleep. I woke up to Amara's little paws on my face and her little body wiggling and running around the bed, whining. She wanted out. I yawned and put the joggers back on, lifting her up. Sleepily stumbling outside, I hadn't even realized what time it was. It was still dark out. I looked up and the sky was still a dark blue. "Damn, Amara.." I yawned, setting her down on the grass. I liked the placement of this mansion because even if it was broad day and people were outside, no one would see me out here. The mansion was farther into the woods. It was almost completely secluded by trees. There was a yard surrounding the back yard, and a smaller one in front, but the trees lined it. The only opening was the driveway.  
   Amara ran to the edge of the trees and did her business. In the dark, it was extremely hard to see her. But her blue eyes caught the light and shined brightly. When she finished she ran back to me, but stood in front of me protectively growling. Her tail was stiff and she faced the driveway. "What is it, Amara?" I asked softly, kneeling down to pet her. She growled louder and let out a bark. It broke a little and went high pitched in the middle because of her age, but it was a warning bark. She knew something was there that I didn't.  
I stood up, thinking of what to do. I knew I should go check, someone could be trying to break in. But something in me told me to run. Told me to take Amara and go back inside. Hesitantly, I started walking towards the gates on the driveway, Amara keeping herself between me and the gate at all times. I saw a figure standing at the gate the closer I got, and when we got no more than ten feet close, Amara lost it. She started barking and snarling and running at the gate, sending the person darting away. Quickly I grabbed her up and ran back inside, back to my room.  
John was awake, in the kitchen with a gun. "Bailey. What was that?" He questioned. He didn't question why I was out there, because I had Amara. She was still a puppy so she couldn't hold it, she had to go when she had to go. Amazingly, she was already almost fully house trained. I looked at him. "Someone was standing at the gate. Amara didn't really like them." I explained. "She scared them off before I could get any detail." He nodded and put the gun down. "Well it's five thirty. You can sleep another two hours or go ahead and get ready." He took a sip of his coffee.  
I nodded and went on to my room. "Good job, Amara." I smiled and reached down to let her. She walked in front of me triumphantly. I got dressed and ready, but no matter how much I brushed my hair it was a curly, fluffy cloud around my head. I guess I'd just have to leave it that way. I went back to the kitchen, letting Amara wander wherever she wanted. "Can I have some coffee?" I asked. John nodded and gestures to the coffee machine. "You gotta make it, kid. We can stop by the shop and pick up breakfast on our way to the school." I shuttered. I thought about it again, knowing there couldn't be that many kids there. I still didn't really want to go.  
They all knew about me, they all knew everything, so they probably wouldn't like me. Like the rest of the town, they would think I'm like mom was. But I figured even if they didn't like me I'd be fine. Life would continue as normal. So when we got there, the lady led us to the library. "My name is Mrs. June. I'm the librarian here, and we use the library to do these kids of tests. First, you'll take math. It will last about two hours. Then you're gonna take English. Again, it'll last two hours. You won't get any extra time so you need to make sure you're quick," She explained. "If you don't know an answer just guess. You're expected to be in eighth grade level or freshman year. When you finish, come to me, I'll be at my desk." She talked with extreme bore. Like she hated her life.  
I laughed under my breath at that and went to take the tests. They were on an older styled computer that looked like every other one in this room. They questioned elementary things. Child's play. They got harder as we went along but up until the last few questions I knew I got every single one right. I finished both tests with a little extra time, so I had to go get June. She went through her computer and calculated the results, amazement in her eyes. John picked up on it. He'd sat with her and talked the whole time I took the tests. "What is it?" He asked. "Well, he didn't fall under eight grade or freshman year. He'll be starting as a sophomore." She explained. "He's skipping a year and graduating early."  
John smiled brightly and pat my back. "Good job, Bailey!" He exclaimed. She smiled and nodded. "We will generate a schedule for him and he can start next week." She Said as she got up. "Come with me." She led us down the hall to the main office. We stood at the desk and waited while she ran a few papers off. She handed me a paper and kept one for herself. The classes went Geometry, gym, Honors English two, art one, biology, French, and world civ. Those were the main courses. "The computer generated your electives for you. But if you want to change them, you can."  
I shook my head. "No, they're fine." I shook my head slightly. "Good! Now, come back on Monday and you will start classes. I'll see you soon." She said softly as she led us to the exit and walked off. John led me to the car. "Well, You did good!" He smiled brightly and took my schedule to look at it. "You're gonna graduate a year early, kid, you're doing good." He  smiled still. "Let's go home and celebrate with Amara."  We hopped into his car and drove home, Amara greeting me excitedly. I'd never seen a dog attach to a person so quickly. She'd only known me for a day and she already attached. I searched the house to make sure she didn't have any accidents, and she didn't, so I rewarded her with treats.  
   "Hey Amara!" I laughed and fell in the floor with her. John watched. "Hey, My buddy Michael is coming over later today, he wants to meet you." Michael.. I remembered that name. "Adams?" I asked. He nodded. Detective Adams was the one who worked the case of Jeb all those years ago. I nodded and stood up, bringing Amara with me. "Alright," I said. "I get to brag about how smart I am." I laughed. When Michael came over for dinner hours later, he and John clicked. I could tell they had a thing for each other. They were awkward around each other and tried to keep professional.  
   Me, being the curious one I am, asked questions. "How long have you guys known each other?" I asked. Michael responded with "oh, sense we was kids. We met in elementary and just kind of.." "stayed together." John finished his sentence when Michael couldn't find the right word. I nodded. "I see." They both nodded nervously and babbled on about the shit they'd do as kids. I half listened and half thought about things. I wondered what it'd be like in school. The next week on Monday, i went. Of course there wasn't too many kids there. Most of them ignored me, and I heard their gossip about me every now and then when I listened hard enough.  
  A couple weeks in was when things started getting bad. "He tried to fuck his step dad once a couple years ago so his mom committed suicide." Was the one lie I heard that actually managed to make me mad.  
   I snarled. It was in the hallway right behind me. I jerked my head around to see who said it. I couldn't tell, there had to be at least ten kids still standing in the hallway. There was a circle of girls surrounding ones locker and talking about god knows what. I tried to listen in but I couldn't understand what they were saying, so I figured it wasn't them. The voice who said it was a masculine one. So I searched the guys who were standing around. "Looking for me, big stuff?" I jerked around to where the voice came from. A big guy stood over me in a jock's outfit, you know the stereotypical football jacket and jeans, man bun. All that good stuff. He was buff, and had to be six foot four at least.  
   I looked up at him. "Yeah, I'm the one who just called ya out with my buddies. You killed your mom." I had a deadly glare. I knew I couldn't fight him even if I tried, so I kept quiet. But that didn't mean everyone else kept quiet. Some girl behind him cleared her throat and I saw his face twist on pain. He fell forward and I jumped back, out of his way. "That's what a knee to the ass feels like." She spat. She was short, and had light brown hair, nicely tanned skin, light blue eyes. Her eyebrows were thick and arched. She looked badass.  
   I'd never seen her around town before, so I knew she was a new girl. "What the hell!" The big dude yelled. "Leave him alone." She ordered him. Then she looked at me. "You're welcome." She had an angry tone. "Thanks.." I mumbled, going to her. "What's your name?" I asked. "I'm Christine. You call me Chris." She ordered. She was one of those people who give off a 'don't fuck with me.' Vibe. "And you are?" She asked, walking off down the hall. I followed. "Bailey." "Bailey? Nice." It was the last five minutes before the final bell rang. "So, you new here?" I asked. For some reason, I wanted to know more about her. Like why she helped me.  
   "Yeah, just moved here last week, I'm surprised you haven't heard of me yet." "Where did you move from?" "New York, I came a long way. It's nothing like here there." I nodded. "That's a big city. This place ain't half of what it is." I agreed. She laughed. "You're telling me. You ever been in a big city?" She asked. I shook my head. "No, actually, I've never been out of this town." She stopped in her tracks and looked at me. "You're kidding. You gotta be kidding." I shook my head. "Holy shit." I shrugged. "You know that orphanage that's ten miles out of here? That's the farthest I've ever been." "You're an orphan?" She asked. "Well, I figured you'd know the story. I mean, you heard him." I shrugged. "You want to tell me the true story to that?" She asked. "You don't look like the 'I'm gonna fuck my step dad' type."  
   I looked at her. "I'm not. My mom was a drug addict, and she over dosed. I have no clue who my dad was, he died before I was born." She nodded. "So they made up a huge lie to cover what happened to your mama." She shook her head. "Bullshit. Well, I can ask my grandma to take us out of town so I can show you around. There's a lot more to this state that this dinky little town." Her grandma? I blurted out. "Hey, I have a question. Why did you move here? All the way from New York?" "Ah.. that's the big question ain't it?" "Yeah." I laughed, and she cracked a smile. "My mom sent me here to live with her, because mom wasn't financially stable enough to care for me. That, and she wasn't mentally stable. My dad got arrested a couple months ago and she couldn't handle it." She was so open about it.  
   It was like she wasn't scared to be judged, and hell, she probably wasn't. She kicked a huge football jock's ass easily. She had no reason to be afraid. "So you up for coming outta town with me?" She asked. "Sure. I gotta ask John though." "John?" "The man who adopted me after all of it went down. Hey, you can meet Amara. You like dogs?" I asked. "Hell yeah I like dogs!" The bell rang and we walked outside. Amara was there waiting for me. These few weeks I've had her she'd grown so much. She leaped up on me and barked excitedly, wrapping her paws around my waist. Chris squealed when she saw Amara and knelt down to love on her.  
   Amara turned her attention to Chris and licked face excitedly and lovingly. "Alright, Amara, lead the way." Amara barked and trotted ahead, leading me and Chris to my house. The town was small enough that it was a fifteen minute walk to wherever you needed to go. Chris saw my place and gasped in awe. "This is huge." She uttered. "John's parents left it for him." I laughed. Amara barked at the door as we walked up to it and John opened. "Hey, Bailey. Who's this?" He asked, looking at Chris. "This is Chris, she-" "I'm a friend of his." She cut me off boldly. "I was wondering if we could hang out a bit? I'll have him back by eleven." It was like a date, but not. John raised a brow. "Hmm.. Alright. Back by eleven." He looked at me. "See you, Bailey." He gave me a proud smile. He was happy to see I'd made a friend.  
   We walked off in another direction, and Amara stayed behind to protect John under my orders. "So we're friends now?" I asked. "Well no shit, dummy." She laughed. "No. We're strangers, and I'm kidnapping you." We walked to this house that was two stories tall, and was painted a light yellow/beige looking color, it was probably white at some point but time had taken its toll. It was old and rustic, just like everything else in this town. She barged in and ran to the kitchen, and I followed her. "Hey NiNi guess who got in a fight on her first day of school?" She hollered.  
   An older woman was standing at the sink. She had a slim build and her hair was braided, it was long enough to go down to her hips and it was silver, almost white. The woman turned around. "You better be joking, girl, or I'll have your hide." She looked at me. I'd known this woman. Her name was Meredith. She had been around sense I was tiny. We had never actually spoken, but I knew of her. "Bailey, nice to finally talk to you!" She laughed and came over to hug me. "God you've grown so much." "So you know Bailey?" Chris asked, raising a brow. "Not personally, no, but he's been here sense he was a little baby. I knew his mama." She shook her head. "I'm sorry for what happened," I shook my head. "No. It's alright." Chris broke our awkward conversation. "So, NiNi, I was wondering. He's never been outta town before. Can you take us out? Show us around?" She asked.  
   Meredith nodded. "Of course. It sucks to not have anywhere to go. How about we go into Tennessee? They have a lot there." She opted. Chris nodded her head. "Hell yeah!" I snickered at their excitement. I was a little nervous, but I didn't say anything. Meredith led us out to an old blue ford pickup truck and we climbed in. It took a few tries before she got it up and running. "Are you sure she's able to make it all the way to Tennessee?" Chris asked. "She's better than ya think." "You're keeping her together with duck tape." I listened to their argument.  
   We drove on, for what felt like hours. No one else was on any of the roads, it seemed almost abandoned. "Bailey! I have an idea. Climb out of the window and get into the bed of the truck and we can ride back there." Meredith laughed. "Chris, he's not as practiced as you are. He can't do that, I can just pull over." As she said that I unbuckled my seatbelt. I don't know what came over me, but being around Chris gave me an adrenaline rush. I rolled the old window down and climbed out, holding on for dear life, and threw myself into the bed. I heard Chris and Meredith's laughter as Chris climbed out after me.  
   "Didn't think you had it in you, pretty boy!" Chris yelled over the loud truck engine. Meredith hit the gas and we sped up. The wind blew my face harshly and sent my hair back. Chris sat on the walls of the bed while I leaned against them and leaned my head back. "When we get on the four lane we gotta lay down if there's a lot of cars, so the police don't catch us. I've got NiNi pulled over before." Chris explained.  I laughed. "Oh, that sounds amazing." She laughed and kicked me. "Shut up!" I shook my head. "Make me!" She raised a Brow. "Is that a challenge?" She asked. I nodded. "Fight me." I said playfully.  
   She flopped down on the bed beside me. "Tennessee has these roller coasters in the mountains that are open all year round. And they have vape shops. You ever vaped before?" "No. I've not." "Oh shit! Well, you're gonna. NiNi can get us vape pins." "Aren't they expensive?" "Nah." We did just that. Meredith stopped by a vape shop when Chris asked and we got pins, and my first time I jacked up a lung. She got us the ones without nicotine, that were just water vapor. Chris seemed more skilled at it, though. She didn't choke or anything. She did tricks.  
    We walked around that little plaza and Chris saw a gages shop. "Let's go in there. You can get gages, right?" She asked. "Uhh.. no." I responded. "I think you're just scared. I'm getting them. Well, I'm gonna amp mine up. Right now I'm on a six, so I'll go down to a five. You can get twelves," She said. "I don't wanna!" I squealed. "Awww Bailey is too scared!" Meredith nudged Chris. "Leave him be, Chris!" She laughed along with her and I rubbed my ear lobes. "Fine. I'll get twelves," I said nervously. And I did. We went out too a couple shops and ate giant slices of pizza, and then when ten o'clock rolled around we drove back.  
Chris took me home and Amara darted at us, barking excitedly. John must have let her out to play. "Hey, pretty lady!" I exclaimed as she leaped up into my arms. She sniffed me all over to make sure I was okay, and sniffed my ears. They were still throbbing, but I was ignoring it. John opened the door and looked at us. "Well hi there. Eleven o'clock exact. Good job, Chris." He smiled. She looked at him. "I may have put a couple holes in him." She joked. John looked a little horrified for a minute. "What?" "Kidding! He got gages. Nothing bad."  
I saw a look of relief go over John and he sighed. "I see. Well, you wanna stay for dinner?" He asked. Chris nodded. "I'd love to." We went inside and John made roast. "So, where do you come from?" He asked Chris. "New York. I came to live with my grandmother. You know her. Meredith Samson." "I do. She's a nice lady." Chris took on a whole new personality dealing with him. She acted mature. "So how long have you been here?" He asked. "About a week, actually." She explained. "I just started school today."  
John continued questioning her as we ate, and I was starting to think he actually thought we were dating. I didn't have feelings for her that way. I just met her. He had to have known that. Besides, I'm pretty sure I didn't like girls that way at all. I never once felt any kind of attraction to them. The most attraction I'd ever felt was to Chris, but that was a friend kind of way. I don't know. Maybe I didn't have feelings for either. I'd never felt anything before. I was fine with that. Things continued this way. Me and Chris would hang out all day at school and then do whatever we felt like after school. Slowly, I converted to doing whatever she did.  
We were walking home from school one day, and just chatting. "I heard there was a murder." I pointed out. Sense I live with John, I get to know the good stuff. "Really?" She asked. "Yeah. It was here in town actually. But no one is supposed to know yet." I said. "Why?" "Well. John wouldn't tell me who he suspected it was, but I think it was someone from here sense no one is allowed to know about anything until they find the murderer." Amara panted, walking alongside me. "Where was it found? The body?" "They only found part of it." I shivered. "John didn't tell me much about it. He only told me that they couldn't identify it because the head was decapitated. The body was well.. naked. There was nothing to help identify. It was found last night."  
She got a grossed out look, but then a look of excitement. "Where was it found?" "Somewhere in the woods." I shrugged. I knew that look. "We aren't gonna go to the crime scene." "We aren't. We're going around it." She grinned. "We're gonna fund the head." I looked at her. "What?" "You heard me!" She started walking to the woods. "No, Chris, we can't. There's still police everywhere-" "they won't catch us." She promised. I rolled my eyes and followed. "Fine." Amara followed faithfully. We wandered through the woods silently, searching under every stone or pebble. But we couldn't find it.  
"Can't Amara like.. sniff it out?" Chris asked. "She's not trained to be a search dog. She's just a dog." I reminded. "But the police have search dogs. And when they sniff us out, we are screwed." "No We aren't." Chris you stubborn bastard. I'd learned that about her. When she wanted something, she got it. It didn't matter what it was or who stood in her way. Amara did something that I didn't expect. She caught onto something and trotted forward, her nose pressed to the ground. Chris raised a brow and followed her. I followed both of them. The deeper we went into the woods, the more uneasy I felt. Like we weren't supposed to be there, like we was gonna get caught any second.  
Maybe if we were a couple of random kids it would be different, but the whole squad of police knew me, and they knew I knew not to be here. If we got caught, we were going to be in trouble. Amara found something, and when I looked at it, I thought it was just a clump of bloody grass, like a spot where the victim had been, but then I saw it was hair. Dark brown hair matted to the head with dried blood. She sniffed at it and nudged it with her nose, and then it rolled over. Chris looked utterly disgusted. I looked down at it. It was still holding a look of fear, the dead eyes looking up at me.  
It was Ralph. The man who called the police all those years ago when Jeb hurt mom and me. I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and my ears started to ring. All I heard was Amara's snarling and Chris screaming for me to get up. She grabbed my wrist and started running. I don't know when I stood up, but I was running too. I heard Amara's snarling and barking behind us and I heard the yelling of a man. Shit. Whoever the hell it was was gonna hurt my dog. Everything in me wanted to stop. Wanted to turn around and save her, but I couldn't do it. Chris continued to pull me along. I heard Amara's loud yelp and then silence.  
We were farther into the woods than we'd ever known, I felt my eyes burning with tears and the red liquid that was dripping down my forehead. I felt my body shaking. We'd stopped running by then, just turning in circles wondering which was to go. We heard the familiar voice of the man screaming wildly, "get back here you bastards!" Chris grabbed my hand and we started running again, my lungs stung, begging me to stop, and my legs were moving faster than they ever had before.  
Then in our panic, we didn't even see the edge. We both fell into a ravine. I blacked out during most of the fall. I remember waking up to a guy kneeling over me. "Hey, he's awake." Something about his speech was slurred, like he was struggling to find the right wording. I recognized him. It was Melvin, an ex football player from school. He'd gotten a head injury and was forced to stop. He was like.. eighteen. Senior. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my head. I saw Amara. She was sitting with one of her paws held up like it was hurt, and I saw it was covered in blood. Thank god my dog was alive. She got up and limped over to me, licking my face.  
  I looked over and saw Zach tending to Chris. She was bloody, but I think it was mainly just scrapes and bruises, nothing too serious. Zach heard Mel say I was up and he quickly came to me. He was a gorgeous boy. He was tall, and husky. His eyes were a dark blue, his skin was fair, and his short hair was a pretty, natural blonde. He had a scruffy beard of the same color. His lips were full. His whole mouth was beautiful. Everything about him was beautiful. "You okay?" He asked. I was lost. His voice was hypnotic.  
    "What..? Uhh.. yeah. I'm okay." I responded. I didn't know if it was true. I squeezed my fingers, toes, moved my arms and legs, the basic body check. He smiled and gave me his hand to pull me up. "Me and Mel heard y'all scream and came to check. Then we met this pretty girl." He said, gesturing to Amara. "I think her leg is broke, or sprained, but.. I'm not sure. She'll have to come to my workplace." "Workplace..?" I stuttered. I felt my cheeks burning. "Yeah, I work for the vet." He went and lifted her up. I watched the muscles in his arms slightly tensed as he lifted my huge pit bull who weighed almost sixty pounds almost effortlessly.  
   "Come on, let's go." He led us out of the ravine and started walking. Me and Chris looked at each other silently, I could tell she was thinking the same thing I was. Did they see who attacked us? I went to rub my head, which was throbbing so bad I thought I was gonna pass out, and I felt fabric. Mel looked at meC noticing my movement. "Zach wrapped his shirt around your head, You was bloody!" He talked like a child. Zach perked up, and looked at me. "Yeah, sorry bout that.. you must've hit your head pretty hard. I'll look at it when we get to the workplace. If it's bad we will go to the hospital," before we got out of the trees, there was an odd sound. It was like a muffler scream. Me and Chris instantly knew what it had to have been, and we wanted to run away, out of that forest and into the safety of the town, but Zach thought it was another kid who must've fallen.  
   "What was that?" He asked. "Probably nothing, let's just go." Chris prompted quickly. "Please." I added. It came out more desperate than I planned, and I cringed at myself. "It could be someone else who fell." Zach argued. It came again, louder this time. Closer. We hesitantly went towards it, and we saw a man. He was wearing a black hoodie and jeans, the hood pulled over his head and obscuring my vision of his face. He had another guy, who was naked, on his knees. Zach looked disgusted for a minute, thinking it was some kind of kinky gay sex, but I knew better.  
   I wanted to go and stop it from happening but my body was frozen. The hooded man pulled a gun, grabbing a fist full of the naked man's Hair and shot him. The man crippled to the ground. Dead. Melvin started crying, loudly. Zach instantly hushed him, using his free hand to cup his mouth, but it was too late. The man jerked his head towards us and Chris screamed, "run! Run run run!" And that was it. Zach scooped up Amara again and we all booked it as fast as we could to the edge of the woods, running into town.  
   "My house!" I shrieked. I ran faster than the others, leading them to the mansion. I leaped the gate instead of wasting time to open it, Chris followed, then Mel, and then Zach followed with Amara. We ran inside, all of us panting and babbling about what just happened. John had taken the day off, so he came in from the kitchen confused. He saw me and Chris, covered in blood and dirt, and Zach and Mel who were panicking with my damaged dog. "What the hell?" He asked with a concerned look. We all started screaming at him, trying to tell him everything that happened.  
    He sighed and took us to the family room where there was enough seats to hold us all. "Calm down. Just breathe. You're safe." He promised. We all nodded, and Zach was first to calm down. He focused on helping me and Melvin first. Chris calmed down on her own, she was like a lone wolf, she did better coping by herself. Zach's ocean eyes locked on mine. "Just breathe. Focus on breathing, with Me." He said soothingly, demonstrating on what to do. I nodded and did as told. I tried so hard to remember the face of the man, so I could tell John, but I couldn't remember. In my memories he was a faceless man.  
    I finally got calm, and Melvin was too, sniffling next to me. John came back with Michael. Michael looked at us. "Where were you?" He asked. "We were in the woods." Chris said. John shot me a look of disapproval. "I'm sorry, we heard a weird sound and went to check it out. It wasn't even near where you said not to go. Then some guy chased us and we fell into the ravine." I explained. "Me and Mel heard them scream when they fell and went to check it out. They were both unconscious. Then we went to leave and we heard screaming again and went to check it out and we saw some man in a black hoodie shoot another guy, the dude he shot was naked.." Zack joined me in explaining.  
   "The first victim was Ralph.." I mumbled. "When we went to check out the noises and we saw the head. It was Ralph. That's when the guy hit me and started chasing us." Michael went pale. "You watched a man get shot? Did the hooded man see you? Where was you?" I tried to answer his questions the best I could but my anxiety was kicking in, I couldn't breathe, I felt cornered. Zach grabbed my hands and held them tight, kneeling in front of me and helping me breathe. "Look at me, don't look at them. Breathe. In. And out. Breathe with me." I tried. I nodded, feeling the tears burn my cheeks.  
   It took me a minute but I calmed down, wrapping my arms around Zach tightly and holding on. He didn't mind. He held me tightly, close to his body. I felt safe there, in his arms. "It's okay.." he whispered to me. I heard Chris explaining over his words. "... it was in the edge of the woods. When he got shot we must've made noise, because the guy looked at us." She didn't throw Melvin under the bus. She didn't tell Michael that Mel started sobbing when he saw the man get shot. She let all of us take the fall. "His hood was obscuring his face. He started chasing us again, and we booked it here."  
   She sounded pissed. I knew she hated authority. She hated them with a burning passion because they are the reason her dad was sent away, and the reason her family fell apart. She hated talking to anyone regarding authority besides John. Michael nodded. John spoke up. "I'll be calling your parents. You will all be staying here with me until we catch the killer. For your own safety. He may come after you because you witnessed him." He explained. None of them complained. Zach pulled away from me eventually to explain to John. "The dog is hurt, I need to get her to the vet."  
   John looked at Amara. "Whoever hit me hit her because she protected me." I explained. John nodded, and Michael lifted her up. "I'll take her. It ain't safe for you all to be out anymore." Zach nodded. "You'll have to call the institution, Mel lives there." "Alright." And they all went in their separate ways, Michael taking Amara to the vet and John going and calling everyone's families. Everyone had their own rooms but Zach stayed with me. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Yeah. I'm fine. My head hurts a little, but that's a given," I joked. "I admire the fact that you can joke in a midlife crisis like this." He laughed. "Midlife crisis?" I asked.  
   "Yes." "We're teenagers." "... midteen crisis." He laughed, sitting at the foot of the bed. "That's Amara's spot." I warned. He laughed. "Well where do you want me to sit?" I shyly smirked. "Up here next to me.." I offered. He blushed slightly and scooted up to me. "Are you sure?" He asked. "I am." I tried to read him. I couldn't. I could usually read everything about a person from just looking at them, an odd talent, but he made me lose that ability. Something about him threw me off guard. Was this what it felt like to be really attracted to someone?  
    He watched me for a minute. "You know.. I've wanted to talk to you for a while." He admitted. "Ever sense you came to the school." "Really?" I asked. "Yeah. But I never could. I just get nervous around you, but I guess now that we have to stay here together for god knows how long.." I nodded, looking at him. "Why? You're popular. No one likes Me. You've heard the rumors-" "Yeah, rumors. They're lies. I know they was lies. Everyone knew. But they all still talked about it because it's human nature to go with what's interesting, and you having sex with your stepdad and causing her to kill herself was more interesting to them. It was bullshit all along." He snapped.  
    "And on the fact that I'm popular. I'm not. Im really not. Im just a football player." "Everyone in this state loves football. They love football players. You're the lead quarterback in the most successful football team." I argued. "So of course everyone's gonna love you." I spat. "Maybe, but I don't love everyone. I hate most of them." "Whys that?" I asked. He gave me a goofy mocking of all the basic bitches at the school. I couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah. I guess you're right," I agreed. "But then there's people like you." He got serious. "The cute ones who hide from everyone."


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things pick up when Jonathan discovers that this has always been all about Bailey, and is too late when the kids set the old trailer on fire and Bailey goes missing.

I didn't know how to take what he just said. "Oh, so I'm cute?" I asked. "Kinda." He shrugged. This big bastard just complimented me, I think. I looked at him. "Kinda?" I asked. He changed the subject. "So, did you ever go to school before?" He asked. I shook my head. "I would offer to show you where I spent all my time but we are under house arrest." Chris cleared her throat. She was standing in the doorway. "How long have you been standing there?" I asked. "Long enough. You can sneak out, I'll keep John occupied with my teenage girl questions." She cringed at herself for saying that.   
"You're seventeen. You should be past the teenage girl questions." I pointed out. "I'll play stupid. I'll say my mama never told me. She didn't half the time and I figured it out alone." I smiled at her. "Okay. So what about crazy killer guy?" I asked. "Oh you'll be fine. You're not running out into the woods, you'll be fine." I nodded. "Thanks, Chris!" I said, leaping up. Me and Zach climbed out of my window, managing to leap to the ground without hurting ourselves drastically. I took off running and leapt over the gates again to avoid John seeing me out the window, and Zach did the same. We both kept running, I wasn't nearly as fast as Zach.   
He was an athlete after all. So my scrawny self was no challenge for him. "Slow down or I can't show you!" I yelled. He quickly stopped and waited for me. I giggled and caught up, leading him to the junkyard. "So that right there was my house. I can take you in there after this, no one lives in it now. John told me they were planning on destroying it in a few months. But I never spent any time in there. So I'm gonna show you where I stayed first." I could tell that sentence raised a lot of questions in his mind, but he kept quiet. I led him to my Cadillac. "So this is where me and Warrior, my first dog, slept and spent most of our time." I explained.   
He nodded. "Why?" He asked. "Because I didn't want to sleep in the trailer. I didn't want to spend any time in it." He didn't ask anymore questions. He kept his space. "So I studied using old books that bid steal from the other cars. Most of the time that's all I did. When I wasn't studying, I was working on the cars. They all have names. This cadilacs name is Carla." He smiled. "Oh?" I nodded. "Yeah. And then my favorite to work on, Birtha." I climbed out of the car and led him deeper into the junkyard. "She's an old pickup. She was a little too far beyond my repair. So I couldn't do much, but I tried." We got to her and he was amazed. "So you worked on cars? You're a badass." "I got most of them working, too."   
He was in awe. Once I was done showing off that living space, I led him into the house. They'd locked it up so we had to sneak in. "This is the house. I never really lived here. Mom and her boyfriends did." I explained. "You wanna tell me why you didn't live in your own house?" He asked. I shrugged. "Do you really wanna know?" He nodded. I led him to the couch. "Right here. Three years ago right here, one of mom's boyfriends tried to rape me. His name was Jeb, he was arrested for domestic abuse. I told no one about what he did to me. Mom always called me a whore and a slut around her other boyfriends and I guess they spread the word, and that's why everyone says I had sex with Jeb. She blamed me for it. All of her boyfriends likes to touch me and flirt with me and stare. But Jeb was the only one to do anything." I gave him the whole story. Just being in this house made me feel a need to let the whole story out instead of holding it in for once. Not even John or Chris knew about the other boyfriends harassing me.   
So I don't know why I trusted Zach enough with that information. He looked at me. "God, I'm so sorry.." he said quietly. "So.. after that, after Jeb, I moved out to the junkyard. Warrior stayed with me after that." I led him to the bedroom. My mom died right there on the bed. I wasn't even sad about her death. She hit me. She hit me a lot. She screamed at me, and called me names. I don't think I loved her. I don't think she loved me. At one point she did." My voice broke as I spoke so I started picking at my hands again to keep from crying. "The night before her death Warrior died. That's what really hurt. Warrior was my best friend. Amara is just like she was but younger."   
Zach was staring aimlessly at the bed. "I have an idea. But the whole group has to come with us when we do it, it's gonna be special." He explained. "How about you burn the place down? They're gonna destroy it anyway. And it's unfair to you. You're the one who suffered the most here. It'll be like some kind of closure." I looked at him. "It helps me. When things hurt me I destroy them. Then it doesn't hurt as much." I wrapped my arms around him. "Thank you.." I said softly. "It's no problem, Bailey." I smiled up at him and climbed out the window, him following close behind.   
We started walking home, this time walking a bit faster as it was getting dark, and we were getting concerned. We snuck back into the house, and Amara was in my room asleep at the door of my bed. I went and changed into a white t shirt and boxers again, and Zach sat on the bed. "You're so comfortable watching me change clothes. I'd almost say you liked it." I joked. He shrugged. "Maybe I do." I sat on the bed above Amara and she barely woke up. Poor baby was tired. "So you work at the vet's?" I asked. "Yeah. I started off as a volunteer and I worked my way up."  
"That's cool.. you like animals, then?" "Yep. I love them. I always wanted to work around them and here I am. I hope I don't get fired over not being there," He babbled. "You shouldn't. We're under house arrest. We can't go anywhere and your boss should understand that." "My boss is old as time itself. I don't think he'll even notice my absence. He's strange." "Dr. Strange." I joked. He snickered at me. "Nah. Not that cool." I don't remember it, but I must've passed out. I woke up the next morning cuddled up to him. He was asleep too, so I sat up gently but quickly and got dressed.   
I walked downstairs and met John. He looked tired. "You didn't sleep last night." I pointed out. "No. I was looking for the murderer. I can't even find any suspects." He complained. "John, you're never gonna find any if you're sleep deprived and can't think straight." I told him. He smiled. "Don't underestimate the power of coffee. I've done this many times." "There's not been many murders." "Not in this town, no, but I didn't use to live here. You're not very open minded to thinking about the outside world, are you?" He asked. I shook my head, sitting across the table from him. "So you and Michael must have moved here together."   
He choked, like he was off guard when I asked. "Yeah. We did." "So you have a thing for him? You act like you do." I pointed out. I knew he was gonna argue. To my surprise, he didn't. "Yeah, I guess I do.." he said quietly. "But he doesn't feel the same. I've known him for thirty years." "You're blind. He does. But he won't show it." "And why wouldn't he? He knows me well enough to know I wouldn't reject him, or be mean-" "you had a wife, and a kid." He raised a brow. "Don't play dumb. He knew ya had a wife so he probably just thinks you're straight. I mean I'd think the same thing."   
"Why do you know so much about this?" "I'm a teenage gay boy. I know Shit. And you're the one taking advice from me." "Excuse me. What? I thought you was with Chris," "I knew you thought that." I laughed. "She's more like a sister to me. The big sister I never had. But no. I've never had feelings for a girl. But I do for a guy." "Is that so?" "Sure is. But you'll just have to figure that out on your own. Maybe I'll tell you when you get with Michael. It's gonna happen." I got up, stretching. "I'm gonna walk Amara." I went upstairs and got her, and took her outside. She had trouble walking, so I carried her most of the way. She was heavy, so I struggled a bit, but she was my baby. So I didn't mind.  
   I had an uneasy feeling, like I was being watched. I looked around nervously and saw no one, so I chalked it up to being paranoia. It was normal to have paranoia, I mean, there was a serial killer out to get me and my friends, who are now all staying in one big building together. If the killer found a way in, it was like jackpot. Amara must've gotten this feeling too, because she started growling and stayed close to me. She didn't run off or attack anything, probably because her leg. I lifted her up and just took her back inside.  
I looked for John but I didn't see him anywhere. He may have been in his office. Usually, I never went in there. But I needed that feeling of conformity now, I don't know, I just didn't feel safe without knowing he was there. I wandered to his office and opened the door. I saw the glass board with the dry erase marker writing all over it. I didn't see John, though. I'd figured I'd just go see if he left a note. But my curiosity got the best of me, and I walked over to the board to read it. It was about this case. He had written a list of suspects. There was a few names I recognized from this town. He crossed out a few of them, I'm assuming they were either dead, already in prison, or he ruled them out. The rest of the writing was of evidence. The way he wrote sounded like he was talking to himself, the way you babble in your mind or out loud sometimes, just trying to think of whatever. I felt a hand tap my shoulder and I collapsed instantly from fear, and looked up at whoever touched me. "It's just me, idiot." It was Chris. "You scared me." I mumbled. She went to look at the board and I got up and blocked her view. "So what did you need me for?" I asked.   
"Amara has an accident, I was gonna ask you to clean it up. Why didn't you take her out this morning?" "I did. I just got kind of paranoid so I didn't give her time." She followed me out and I went to clean it up. "How'd your date with Zach go yesterday?" She teasingly asked. "It wasn't a date. We just talked." "Come on. It was romantic. Y'all snuck out of house arrest and he got to see your personal life." I shrugged. "He proposed the most romantic idea I've ever heard." "What's that?" "We burn mom's trailer to the ground. Me, you, him, and Mel."   
Her eyes lit up. "You are daring that boy. I'll make it happen if it's the last thing I do." Chaos and violence are Chris's favorite thing, other than tech. She was kind of a gothic tech lord. She wasn't happy if she couldn't be online. Not a basic bitch, though. "You say that because he wants to maybe burn something down. You'd say that if he prompted hunting for the killer, too." "That's not a bad idea!" "He's out to get us, Chris. If we hunted for him then we'd literally be making his life easier." I started searching for a note or anything. "What are you looking for?" Chris asked. "John's gone and I wanna know where he went." "To work, maybe? You forget he's a detective and there's a huge investigation going on. Two murders in one week in a small isolated town where nothing ever happens."   
I rolled my eyes. Zach joined us. "What are we talking about?" He asked. "Debating on whether or not to hunt down the killer!" Chris spouted. Me and Zach both gave her a look and went "No." at the same time, as if we planned it. We looked at each other and he gave me a weird look that I didn't understand, I'd seen Michael give it to John a few times but when he looked at me like that I forgot what it meant. I looked away quickly, back at Chris. She was giggling.   
"Where's Mel?" She asked after a moment. "Still asleep. He can sleep until three in the afternoon. But you never wake him up." Zach warned. "Why not?" Chris asked. "Have you ever tried to wake up a two year old? They throw tantrums like none other and there is no calming them down." "Oh. Okay. I understand." She shrugged. "Well, we don't have to go to school, no work, nothing. What do they expect us to do?" "I have no idea." I grunted, pulling myself up onto the counter. Amara started barking and I jumped to the high heavens.   
Zach looked confused and looked at her. She was barking at the door. Of course. I got up and walked to her, Chris following close behind. I looked out the window. The window on the front door was one of those really thick glasses so you could see the outline of a person but you couldn't see any details. "Is that John?" Chris asked, making her way to the door. I had a sharp stinging feeling in my head. That feeling you have when you're so angry you snap, and do things you're not suppose to. I grabbed my head with my free hand, as the other was holding Amara. "Don't!" I ordered, a bit louder than expected.   
She stopped. "It could be John, or Michael." She said, her hand on the lock. The door was locked, of course. All entries to the house were locked. "Don't open it. Don't unlock it. Back away." I ordered. My voice didn't sound like my own. It was demanding and bold. Chris was surprised by that and did as told. Hell, I was surprised by it. I didn't recognize myself. Something about this didn't feel right. The outline was too big to be John, but too thin to be Michael. And if it was either of them, they would have knocked.   
Amara snarled and barked angrily. The way she barked when the hooded man attacked us in the woods. That was it. I let her go and ran upstairs to John's bedroom. His room's window had a full view of the front door the way the room was angled. I looked outside and it was a man, his face was hidden by a hood. He was wearing a blue hoodie. He seemed eerily familiar. I heard Zach scream "I'm calling the cops, we have a gun!" And the man backed away from the door, running into the woods surrounding the house.   
I ran downstairs to where they were in a panicked state. "It was him. That was the guy who attacked us." I explained. "The killer." Chris corrected. Zach watched the door. "He ran into the woods when you yelled at him." I explained. "He knows where we are." I shook my head. "There's no way he knew all of us are here. Only our parents know." Zach thought out loud. "He wouldn't come knocking on the detective's door unless he knew we were in here." Chris argued. "If he's someone from this town he'd know the detective adopted Bailey." My heart sank. "He's after me. But now he knows you're here." Zach's expression twisted into one of hatred and anger. "I'll kill him if he comes anywhere near you."   
   He wrapped his arms around me protectively and held me close. "I love you." He said. I looked up at him. "I'm not just saying that." He said quietly. We spent the rest of the day trying to rule out who the guy was. Looking for clues. "Why would anyone be after you?" Chris asked. By now, Melvin was awake. He was with us in John's office, playing with a marker. "Cause he's pertty!" He said. He sounded like a toddler. Zach pointed at him. "Damn right He is." Chris rolled her eyes. "Stop with your gay shit!" She ordered. Zach threw his hands up in surrender. "Okay, Okay." He said. I laughed. Somehow, being with them helped ease my mind off of it.   
   "Maybe his mom. She was the drug lord. They may be like everyone else in this town and think he's a drug lord too." Zach pointed at the board. "Eric's a drug addict, So is Hudson." "They're both twigs though. The person in the window wasn't a twig." I said. "He was wearing a hoodie. You saw it from the window. Sometimes hoodies can add false bulk." Chris prompted. Okay, this was kind of comedic. A group of teenagers trying to solve a murder mystery. It was like an episode of Scooby Doo.  
We decided not to tell John about the events of the day. It was a dumb decision, I know. Especially knowing whoever it was was after me. But we all just kind of kept it to ourselves. I mean, we didn't really all come to the conclusion not to say anything together. I think we were all scared to. And because no one spoke up, no one felt the conformity to speak up. If that makes sense. He and Michael came home together, both of them talking about the investigation. Me and Zach listened in while Mel and Chris were off doing their thing.   
"They've killed two people. But neither person has a connection, that we know of." Michael thought aloud. "Who was the second victim?" I asked. "The one who was shot in the head." "It was one of our own. A police officer. He works and lives a little ways out of town." "Name?" Zach asked for me. "Leita West." I knew that name. That was one of the officers who arrested Jeb. "Oh." I said quietly. "No connection. Same way of murder, same place." "Whoever it is definitely lives here. They know their way around the woods." John said. "Have you arrested any suspects?" Zach asked. We all sat in the living room, me and Zach sat together on the couch, Zach's arm around me.   
Neither Michael nor John mentioned it, but they gave me little smiles here and there. Zach nodded. I felt grown up. It was odd to be included in something this important. It felt surreal. It was getting dark, so Michael decided to leave after a while of coming to dead ends in the investigation. Me and Zach went to bed with Amara. We slept in the same bed again. We laid there facing each other. He played with my hair, looking into my eyes. "Did you ever think you'd be here?" He asked. "What do you mean?" I questioned. "Everything. Did you ever think you'd be away from your abusive mom, with a boyfriend, solving a murder mystery?" He asked.   
I thought back to when I was young. Back to when I had hope for myself. I couldn't remember for the life of me what I wanted to do with my life, what I imagined myself doing. Then when I was a kid. When I started losing hope. I saw myself still being with her. I shook my head. "No. I'd never thought I would be here. What about you?" I asked. He pondered for a moment. And for that moment, I wondered what he was thinking back to. What kind of family did he have? What kind of life has he led up to this point? Maybe I should ask.   
"No. I've never imagined myself like this." He finally responded. That was my opportunity. I didn't know how to phrase it. So I did him the same way I did John. "You know all about me. Tell me more about you. You can't be my boyfriend if I don't know anything about you." I had a boyfriend. I felt like I rushed it. I felt like somehow, he wasn't happy with me. No one could ever truly love me. Maybe I forced it. I thought back to how it happened. Which was strange. I didn't remember how it happened.   
We never asked each other out. We never fully said 'you're my boyfriend', it just kind of happened. That gave me some kind of comfort. Like I thought, how could I have forced anything if I never even asked? How could any of this have been forced if neither of us really asked anything? It was just an unspoken, mutual agreement. And deep down, I knew it was right. Almost all was right in the world. The only problem? The once calm town of Desperation was being ransacked by a murderer.  
He looked at me. "You don't not know anything about me." He said. "You know a lot." "I know you're a popular football player who fell in love with a nobody." I explained. "Who takes care of his disabled best friend." He added. "Okay, Okay." He finally agreed. "I don't have a tragic sob story. I mean, I think I've lived a normal life. My dad was a huge pro at football, he was in the NFL. But he broke his hip, like, shattered it a couple years after I was born. We couldn't afford living in a big state like we did, so we moved here to desperation. It became his obsession that I become a pro like he was." He explained.  
"Did you even want to?" I asked. "Well. Kind of. I wanted to please him. I wanted to make him and mom proud. So yeah, I guess I did. So it became my life goal. I got an opportunity to work with animals with the vet and that became a side hobby. Just taking care of the animals. That made me happy. Still does." He explained. "And then you show up at school. The thing about us, my family are all huge assholes. They're homophobic. When they find out about me and you, they'll be pissed." He said, sighing. "But I don't care. I'm happy with where I am."   
For some reason, that last sentence made me smile. I yawned, rolling over and popping a couple pills. I pressed my back against his body and he held me close, wrapping his arm around me. The next day I woke up to Amara pawing at my face. She needed to go out. I got up and dressed quietly to not wake Zach, and then took Amara out. It was like a repeat of yesterday. Extremely paranoid. But now I have more validation to be so paranoid. I'm pretty sure everyone in the mansion would totally disagree with me going outside at four in the morning all alone. I wasn't all alone though, I still had Amara.   
She did her business after five minutes of standing in the cold. She ran right up to the door. I guess she didn't like the cold just as much as me. I opened the door and she ran inside, me following close behind. I closed the door and locked it once again, seeing John sitting at the dining room table. He had a notebook in front of him like he was working on something. "You pulled another all nighter, huh?" I asked. He looked up at me. "Yeah. I did." He admitted. I walked over to him and took the notebook, reading over all of the information.  
"It just doesn't add up." He sighed. "Ralph was a normal everyday man, he worked at the market, had a wife and three kids, all grown or teenagers. Leita was a policeman, a widower with one daughter who's only six years old." He mumbled. "It doesn't add up. They had almost no similarities. There's no telling who done it." "Arrest the suspects and question their family members or friends," I prompted. "We already have. No one knows. I mean, of course the suspects have connections with both men, but everyone here has connections. They're telling us they only knew them the way you'd know Janet down the street. You know of her, but you don't know her personally." He explained.  
"They've had a couple run ins with the law so they know Leita." He shrugged. "It's like it's a puzzle, and we're missing the most important pieces." I nodded. I didn't know what to tell him. I was just as confused as him. Yeah, I was withholding information about yesterday from him, but honestly, what good what it do to tell him? All it would do was worry him more. Chris eventually woke up. She was always the second to wake up. "What are you talking about?" She asked, getting some coffee and sitting with us. "The case." John responded. She rolled her eyes. "Well duh. But have we made any progress?" "No. Not on our end. I don't know about Michael." John shrugged.  
    "Call and ask." She ordered. "It's seven in the morning, I doubt he's even awake." "In the middle of an investigation, of course he's gonna he sleeping in until eleven in the day." She scoffed. John's phone rang. It sat on the table, buzzing. I looked at it and Michael's name appeared on the screen. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear." Chris laughed. John picked up the phone and answered with a quiet, "hello?" I heard Michael's voice mumble, his words distorted to a point that I couldn't understand what he was saying. John's expression dropped.   
   "Okay, I'll be there." He got up and threw his coat on. "What is it?" I asked. "There's been another body found." John said blankly. "Shit." Chris grunted. It was like we ourselves were also connected to the case. "Keep us updated." She ordered as John left. "Whoever's killing these people is fast." Chris mumbled, going through the notebook. I nodded in agreement. "Yeah. They are." I felt like I knew who the killer was. Like there was a piece of information right in front of Me. The puzzle piece we needed. But I just couldn't find it. It was eating at me.   
    Chris shrugged. "Maybe this kill will be the one to show us." She said. "Maybe." I agreed. "They're just killing random people." She snarled. "No, they aren't." I said. "They can't be." I don't know what it was. I just knew. I knew it wasn't random. John called. I was the one to pick up. "Hey." I said. "It's the same as the other victims. Naked. Its Hudson." I knew Hudson personally. He was one of mom's boyfriends. She dated all the druggies here. Hudson, Eric, Danatel, Blanchit. I could go on for days. "Who was the suspects you arrested?" I asked. "There was three. Val, Darce, and Ravises." Them? They didn't have any connection to these people.   
   I knew them. They weren't druggies, they were thieves. Val did have some connection to Hudson. They'd had a rivalry a few years ago. I told this to John and he agreed, hanging up to discuss it with the others. It couldn't be Val, he was in custody. But maybe he had some connections to the outer world. Maybe he was convincing someone else to kill. But that didn't explain why they killed Ralph. Leita, well, he was a cop who probably arrested them at one point. I don't know, it was all still kind of jumbled. I wasn't cut out for this cop stuff just yet.   
  I still felt like I was wrong. Like I was missing something. That's right. It didn't all make sense. It didn't all add up. Whoever it was had some kind of connection to the victims. Whoever it was was from town, and whoever it was was after me. I felt like I knew who it was. It was on the tip of my tongue. I was going to drive myself insane.  
Whenever everyone was awake, they started realizing that I was on edge. "You look like shit." Chris stated blankly. I looked at her. "I'm sorry." I said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes. "She's right though. Something wrong?" Zach asked. "I feel like I know who the killer is." I mumbled. "Like it's right in front of me." Zach shrugged. "Bailey, it's not on you to solve the case. You're acting like John." "Well I can't help it." I grumbled.  
"How about we do that date I offered?" Zach perked up. "Let's go burn your trailer down." Her sounded too excited. Mel jumped. "Burn it! Burn it!" He laughed. I watched him jump in excitement. Mel was a black boy with darker freckles all over his face, a buzz cut like hair cut, and one black eye one blue. He looked just like a child. Amazingly, he was the oldest, though. I nodded. "Alright. We can go burn it. Broad daylight though?" I asked. Zach shrugged. "It'll take your mind off of all this. So yeah. I guess it'll be more exciting when everyone can see us." So we snuck out, and ran to the market to get gasoline.   
We all had hoodies on to mask our appearance, just in case, and ran to my mom's place. "You wanna go in and pour the gas on everything?" Zach asked, handing me the thing of gas. I nodded, climbing in the window while everyone else waited around back, so that no one in the town could see them unless they were in the junkyard itself. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. That's when it hit Me. Jeb. Jeb was the one. He had to have been. Ralph was the one to call the police on him. Leita was the one to arrest him. Hudson was one of my stepdads. He knew where I was. He was coming after me.   
"Jeb.." I said aloud. I dropped the thing of gas and went to go outside to the others to warn them, when I felt something hard and cold hit the back of my head extremely hard. It must've made me black out for a moment, because I only remember waking up with duck tape over my mouth, and bounding my wrists and ankles together. I wriggled violently. I couldn't see anything, I knew I had a blindfold on. I could just smell. And hear. I heard the trickle of gas hitting the old floor and smelt it. God, the fumes could kill. If I had lit a match, the whole place would have went up in flames.   
I felt dizzy, lost. I'd been breathing these fumes in long enough to already start making me high. I squirmed violently to get free. I tried to call out, but my voice was too muffled. I heard the man drop the gallon and then he lifted me up, throwing me over his shoulder. I screamed and screamed, trying my damnedest to alert Chris. To alert Zach. I felt the tears flooding my eyes but they had nowhere to go, the fold was trapping them. I started thrashing around violently like a fish out of water. The man harshly threw me down on the floor and kicked my stomach full force. "Shut the hell up, dammit. Shut up. And hold still." The kick sent a paralyzing pain throughout my body.   
He lifted me back up, and climbed out. I don't know how he got out without getting caught. There was almost no way, with the position of my friends and the town. He may have went out through the side window, and went through the junkyard. He kept running. The amount of strength and speed this guy had was unbelievable. I don't know for how long we ran, or how far, but eventually he dropped me on the dirt. I landed on a rock that stabbed into my ribs, and I felt a snap. I let out a shriek. That shriek was the one to break my voice. It went out, and my throat burned. I knew my rib had to have been broken.   
The pain was so bad. I kept trying to scream. No sound came out. I heard Jeb messing with something and then he lifted me again. He carried me into some kind of room. Where were we? He threw me down, and I continued to fall, slamming into things. It was a stairwell. Once I hit the bottom I felt like every bone in my body was broken. The floor was freezing cold cement. He finally caught up to me, talking. "I've been waiting so long for this, Bailey.." he said in a sickening tone. "I've followed you ever sense I got out of prison." I struggled harder. I needed to get away from him.   
"I followed you when you went on your little date with that boy. Good to know you like guys, Bailey.." he said. I felt him grab my waist and squeeze tightly. "Now that your mama's out of the picture, I have you all to myself. No ones gonna find us. We can be together." He said, his sick voice shaking with excitement. He was so close to my ear I could feel the warmth of his breath. "No one can hear you scream but me. I like the little noises you make when you're scared.." he ripped the tape off of my mouth and I started screaming to the high heavens. I heard my voice. It was so damaged. I knew I tore something in my throat because of the way my voice sounded.   
Over my cries I heard his laugh. "I love you, Bailey." He said quietly. I cried harder. We couldn't have went too far from town. I know we couldn't have. Especially if we went through the junkyard. We couldn't have been but a mile out. I tried to kick at him. I felt my foot make contact with his leg and I kicked as hard as I could. He yelled loudly in pain, cursing Me. I heard the silent sound of the opening of a pocket knife and he plunged it into my thigh. I let out another shriek.   
"I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me." He promised. I felt helpless. I couldn't use my arms. Or my legs. I couldn't see.  
(Jonathan's POV)  
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I ignored it, telling myself I was working. Whoever needed me could wait. That was a problem with me. I always put my work before everything else, even my health or my social life. I felt like it was more important. I'd been that way ever sense the crash. It just kind of relieved the pain. I solved the murder. The car crash was caused by an old friend of mine who was angry at me for god only knows what. I blamed myself over it.  
I felt then vibrate again. In the back of my mind, I worried if it was the kids. They were kind of like a new family to me. Bailey was my new son, and all his friends were my responsibility now, too. I shook the thought. Michael could tell something was bothering me. He's been my friend sense elementary school. He knew me inside and out. I knew him like that too, I guess.   
He looked at me. "You Alright?" He asked. I nodded. "I'm just confused. It's not adding up..." I lied about what was bothering me. My phone buzzed again. Agitated, I picked it up and snapped at whoever was calling. "What is it?" I asked in an angry tone. "It's Bailey!" Chris's voice yelled. She sounded panicked, like she was crying. I knew this girl. She was tough. Nothing could ever make her cry. "Wait, What? What about Bailey?" I asked.   
"He's gone. He's gone. I don't know where he is, John we can't find him." I heard the roar of a fire behind her voice. I was confused. And scared. "Where are you?" I asked, hearing someone talking to another person behind me. "There's a fire in the Anderson's old trailer!" They cried. I knew where to go. Quickly I threw myself into the squad car and sped off, leaving Michael where he stood without explaining. I felt bad, but that was my boy. My child. I couldn't lose another kid. No. I refused.  
I sped to the house, through the small crowd of people surrounding it. The place was ablaze. I saw Zach and Mel standing outside screaming into the house. What the hell were they doing there? They were suppose to be at my house. I ran to them asking what was wrong. "Chris went inside to look for Bailey, I'm sorry John-" Zach explained. I cut him off. "What the hell!" I screamed at him. I climbed in through the window and didn't have to go far, Chris was in the living room standing in an opening, everything else was on fire. "God dammit Christine!" I screamed, running and grabbing her and pulling her back out the window.   
"Bailey is still in there! He has to be!" She was screaming and crying. She had burns on her arms that looked rough. "Stay here." I ordered, going back inside. I searched everything that wasn't already gone, every room. He wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere. The smoke starting to fill my lungs and I ran back outside. "He's not in there, Chris." I said between coughs. I'm forty nine years old. I not cut out for this. The fire truck finally arrived and out the fire out, and an ambulance. I sat in it with Chris while they treated her burns. "Tell me what happened. Everything." I ordered.   
"Bailey was stressed so we decided to burn down his moms trailer to help him relax, he went inside to cover the place in gasoline and the next thing we knew the place was on fire and he was gone." She talked so fast. I watched the firemen go into the building. If Bailey was burnt up they'd find his body. "Your grandmother is coming. Don't worry, Chris." I said, patting her shoulder and going to Zach. "As for you. What the hell. You shouldn't have broken the fucking house arrest!" I screamed. I was trying my best to keep calm. Trying to think of what to do.   
"I'm sorry.." Zach mumbled. He's been crying, too. If they didn't bring Bailey's body out, then he wasn't dead. They hadn't brought out anything. No remains. He's still alive. Somewhere. "Dammit dammit dammit.." I ran my fingers through my hair. I had to find him. He's still alive. None of this made sense. "Zach. Tell me everything you know, is there anything I don't know?" I asked. "The other day someone came to the house and just stood at the door. He was wearing a hoodie like the one the killer had on so I think it was the same guy," he said. "He came to the house but he didn't know any of us was there. He knew Bailey was there because he lives in this town I think. That's the only way. He was after Bailey." Bailey. All of this has always been about Bailey.   
   I was stupid to have not figured it out before. My mind clicked. It was like a light was turned on. This was the missing puzzle piece I needed. I thought back to Jeb's case. Ralph was an everyday neighbor who called the police the night Jeb beat Melissa. He's the reason he was caught. Leita was the one who arrested Jeb. I don't know Hudson's connection to the case. Bailey probably knew that himself. Hudson was probably a distraction that gave Jeb enough time to take Bailey. Jeb had been let out of prison. He probably still wanted Bailey. He probably wanted revenge.   
   "That bastard.." I mumbled. Michael finally showed up. "Michael, we have to send a search team into the woods-" I cut my own self off. "Where were you all standing?" I asked Zach. "Behind the house." He pointed. That didn't make sense. If they were back there, and the town was in front, it was impossible to get away without getting caught- no. There was a way. I ran to the side facing the junkyard, and there was a window. He must've gotten out through the window, and went through the junkyard. He couldn't have gotten far on foot. He could've and should've still been in the junkyard somewhere, it was a huge place that lasted miles.   
   "In the junkyard. We need all the people we can get in the junkyard. He needs me."  
  (Bailey's POV:Date:A week after the kidnapping.)  
  I had no idea how long I'd been there. We never moved, and never went anywhere. He was always with me. It was the days that he didn't talk that scared me the most. I still hadn't had my blindfold removed, nor the tape- Well, he'd replaced the tape with rope when I managed to break it. I'd struggled enough that I had actually snapped the tape on my wrists. He got so mad at me for that. He beat me so hard I thought I was going to die. I wanted to die.  
   There was nothing else left for me. I'd been given water once every now and then, I knew I was dehydrated. I knew I couldn't continue living this way. I was going to die soon. I hadn't been fed in the whole time I'd been here. Maybe it was a couple days. Maybe it was a month. Time seemed to drag on and on. I was growing weaker. I didn't know if I'd slept. I didn't know if I was dying. "They're looking for you, Bailey." He said quietly. "They figures out that you didn't die in the fire." I didn't respond. I'd stopped talking a while ago. I stopped screaming. When he hit me, I would grunt, but try not to give him the noises he wanted.   
   "Do you know how long it's been, Bailey?" He asked. I didn't respond. I kept quiet. "You should know. It's been a whole week." Her do this sometimes. He'd tell me it'd been hours, that it'd been months. I never knew when he was telling the truth. He was trying to break me, I think. I was already broken. I thought back to Daniela. "Live your best life and I'll live mine." I broke the deal. This wasn't living. This wasn't life. This was hell. I was in hell. "Do you wanna know something even better?" He asked. "They've went right over us. They'll never find us." He said. "We are ten feet under the ground in an old bunker."   
   He'd never told me that before. I think he was only telling me now because he was cocky. But for all I knew, that was a lie too. We could just be in a house in the middle of the woods, in the basement. We could be anywhere. I could try and escape if I had the ties off. If I had the blindfold off. I started devising a plan. Maybe if I could convince him I loved him he would give me a little more freedom. Then I could see what I'm working with. I was shaking. I had to try. "I love you, you know.." the words hurt me to say.   
  "What's that?" He asked. "I love you. I loved you ever sense you and mom got together." I was working on the lie in my head as I talked. "But I was just twelve. I didn't understand what it meant. I didn't know what love was." I heard him walking around me. I felt his eyes on me. "So when you tried to give me love.. I got scared." "Do you really think I'm that stupid?" He asked. "I don't.. you're smart. You're so smart. You figured out how to get me away from them and brought me here. Now no one can be between us." I prompted. "Damn right I'm smart." He said proudly.   
   "It's... it's cute when you get proud like that, you know." I said. I started pretending he was someone I actually loved. Zach. "You get all proud and you get a look on your face.. a little smirk. Your voice gets a sexy tone to it." I felt him lay down on the floor with me and wrap his arms around me, holding me. "You really think so..?" He bit my neck. "I do.. I can prove my love to you. I can show you just how much I love you. I'll show you I'm yours. But I don't wanna be tied. I wanna be the top." I forced myself to act seductive. "I wanna sit on your lap and look you in the eyes and tell you I'm all yours."   
   His hand slid up under my shirt and rubbed my body. "Untie me, daddy." I ordered. "Okay, darling..." he was turned on. I felt him on me, growing a hard one. He pulled away and removed my blindfold. The light burned my eyes. They'd become so used to the darkness that I was blinded by the light. I felt the bonds loosening on my ankles. He was insane. He actually believed me. I couldn't be frantic. I wanted to just run away, but I knew if I was too frantic, and didn't fully plan everything out, he'd catch me. And he'd do god knows what to me.   
   He left my hands bound. "Just in case you try anything." When my vision finally adjusted to the light I saw the rope around my wrists was bound around my wrists and then another rope was looped in with it, leading into a dark, far corner of the room. Shit. How had I not noticed that before? That ruins everything. I didn't know how long that rope was. I glanced around. There was a table that had the weapons he'd used on me- a knife and a bat- a bed, and a cell phone. A cell phone. He saw my eyes looking over there. "What?" He asked. "Is that the bat you used on me..?" I asked. "It is." He agreed. I stumbled to my feet. Amazingly, I still remembered how to stand up.   
   I hadn't stood up the whole time I'd been there. I had trouble but I walked over to the table, testing the rope. It was long enough. I made it to the table, Jeb right behind me. He rubbed my sides from behind and kissed my neck. "What is it, baby..?" He asked. He was fucking crazy. He really believed that I loved him. I grabbed the phone, keeping him occupied by pushing my butt against him, and quickly pressed the emergency call button. They could trace the call. I left the phone on and shoved it in my pants to make sure he couldn't take it and turn it off. As long as it was on, it could be tracked. As long as I could call the police. Then grabbed the bat. It all happened so fast. I tried to swing at him, but h figured me out.   
   "You bastard!" He screamed. "You lying bastard!" He grabbed the bat from me and hit me upside the head with it. I remember falling to the ground and that was it. I woke up in the same position I'd been in for the longest time. Bound up, with a blindfold on. I heard nothing but an engine roaring. We were in a car. I didn't want him to know I was awake. I thought over what I'd done. What did I do wrong? I thought I'd been fast enough. I was sure I'd been fast enough. How did he catch onto me?   
   I wanted John. I wanted to be saved. Suddenly the car stopped. Surely we hadn't been driving long enough to be out of state. We couldn't have been but a couple hours from where we started. I heard a trunk open and felt myself being lifted. I was curled up into fetal position. I felt the warm spring air and the rain pouring down on me. We walked for a long time. Where were we? I felt hopeless. I was going to die. I knew I was going to die with this guy. Why me. Why did he fixated on me. I was just a kid. My body stung.   
   Finally we were out of the rain. He carried me down another flight of stairs and he threw me over his shoulder as he struggled to open another door. He threw me on the ground. "Wake up, you little shit!" He screamed and yanked the blindfold off. "I tried to let you stay in desperation! I tried." He explained. I sat there, looking up at him. That's when I remembered the phone in my jeans. He just needed to leave me alone for a minute. Just a minute.   
   He screamed at me for a while, losing his mind. He was making no sense. I knew he was mentally fucked. Something was wrong in his head. He wasn't just some random asshole. He walked out of the room and slammed the door shut. I struggled for a bit to maneuver my hands in their bounds to get the phone and rip the tape off my mouth. I called John. "Pick up.." I begged silently. Every second counts. Finally he picked up. "Who is this?" He asked. "Dad it's me please hurry I don't know where I am.." I started crying. I didn't mean to. "Trace the call.." I heard Jeb coming back and instantly hung up, hiding the phone in my jeans again.   
   Jeb opened the door, seeing me untied. I got up and darted past him as fast as I could. I ran up the stairs and ran through the house as fast as I could. I recognized it. It was the old orphanage. The one that was abandoned. As I was running I called John back. "It's the old orphanage! Hurry!" I felt a paralyzing pain in my back. He'd hit me with the bat. I collapsed to the ground and flipped over to look up at him. He reeled the bat back. I thought you loved me, you bastard.." he mumbled. "I love you." He swung the bat at me again, and I rolled out of its way. It busted a hole in the hardwood floor next to my head.   
   "I loved you!" He screamed, swinging again. I rolled as fast as I could and as far as I could, stumbling to my feet. He raised his bat to hit me again and as I turned to run, I saw John. He had his gun aimed. "Bailey, duck." He screamed. Quickly, I dropped to the floor and heard a loud BANG, and my ears rang. I turned and saw Jeb fall to his knees, then forward toward me. A pool of his own blood surrounded him. I stared at him. Was it a dream? How did John get to me that fast? He dropped down next to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly, holding me closely and crying. His tears soaked my shirt. "Dad.." I sighed, wrapping my arms around him and crying with him.   
   I heard the sirens of ambulances and police cars pulling in around the building and a bunch of cops broke in, darting around us. "I'm so sorry son, I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough.." he mumbled. How long had I been gone? How long did Jeb have me? In the car ride to the hospital, I saw myself in the rear view mirrors I was covered in bruises. I was bone thin. There was a sick look about me, dark rings under my eyes and blood staining my nose and mouth. I didn't recognize myself. I looked down at the bruises around my wrists.   
   John- dad, was still mumbling apologies to me. "How long..?" I asked. "How long did he have me..?" "Two weeks." Dad said quietly. "It's been two weeks. I thought you were dead."  Two whole weeks.. I thought it'd only been days. I nodded slightly. "Is he dead..?" I asked. "Yeah. He's dead. I shot him between the eyes." "What did I miss in town..?" I asked, changing the subject. "Zach's homophobic parents kicked him out when they found out he was gay, so he and Melvin live with us now. Meredith exiled Mel and Zach's parents from the town so they're gone. Chris has decided to live with us, too." He explained.  
   "Michael and I are also together." He smiled a little at me. "I took your advice." I smiled slightly. "I'm proud of you." I said. "Thanks. You too." He said. "You're strong." Strong.. I liked that.


	3. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four years after, the group all catch the bad guy and earn a happy ending.

   I’d lost track of him. Chris took the shortcut and I’d followed him through the long way. We were running through a building and he’d went through to the backstreet. When I finally caught up to him, I saw Chris tackling him to the ground and reeling her fist back to hit him. “Gotcha.” She smirked. She loved the chase. “That’s enough, Chris.” I snickered, going and putting cuffs on the guy. His name was Aaron. He was a lead suspect in a case me and Chris was working.   
We took him and gave him to the actual police, we were just detectives. They took him from there. “Nice work. But you were just a bit too slow, Bailey,” Chris teased. “Please. I cornered him.” I laughed. “Sure thing.” “Hey, leave em alone.” Zach’s voice came from behind me and he wrapped his arms around me. He had my cup of coffee in his hand. He always met me around this time to bring me coffee, everyday. I took it and took a sip, holding his hand with my free one. I traced the engagement ring on his ring finger, watching it glisten in the sun.   
He smiled and kissed the nape of my neck lovingly, and I turned in his arms to wrap my own around him and bury my face in his chest. I listened to the soft thinks of his heart in his chest. It always beat a little faster when I did this, and I thought it was cute. I looked up at him. My handsome fiancé. It’d been four years sense everything went down, four years sense we got together. I don’t regret a single thing. If I’d had a different life, a different mother, maybe I wouldn’t be where I am today. I thought back to that second night that we slept together. Thought back to the conversation we’d had.   
“Did you ever imagine yourself where we are today? Like, right now?” I asked. I watched the gears work in his mind. “No. Never.” He responded. “Did you?” He asked. I shook my head. Even after we met those years ago, I would’ve never expected to grow up to be this. I was proud of us. Zach became a professional veterinarian, Melvin was his assistant, me and Chris both took to serving justice. Just like dad and Michael had. “Well, there’s nothing left for us to do here.” Chris broke me from my trance. “Y’all wanna head home?” She asked. Yeah, we all still kind of lived together in the mansion. Dad and Michael didn’t mind it. I think they liked the company. I nodded and took Zach’s hand and led him and Chris to the mansion.   
We all still lived in the dinky little town of Desperation. We made it back to the mansion and went inside, Amara barking excitedly and running towards me. I lifted her up and kissed her head, Meredith was watching. She spent most of her time with us. She didn’t live with us, no, but she was almost always there. After she got Zach and Mel’s parents exiled, Chris chose to live with everyone in the mansion so that she wasn’t left out, and Meredith liked to come stay with us. She smiled at us approvingly. Dad watched. “You’re home early,” He said. “Yeah, we caught Aaron. We decided to call it a day.” I explained.   
He gave me a proud look. We were following in his footsteps, and that made him happy. I guess none of us could’ve ever saw it coming. No one could have expected the childhood friends to marry, and become guardians to a group of kids, no one expected the nobodies in school to become successful, no one expected the high school jocks to become vets. But damn were we happy when we did.


End file.
